A scientific study has concluded that there’s a serious link between a common ingredient and cancer, and there’s a good chance you’ve got it in your kitchen.
Many of us go out of our way to eat healthily. The NHS recommends a litany of things that won’t be news to many of us: eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, don’t exceed your recommended caloric intake on a regular basis, drink at least two litres of water each day, and balance the rest of your diet between starchy foods and protein sources such as fish and pulses.
Overindulgence in fatty foods and anything with a high sugar content is also generally regarded as a bad idea if it’s done on a regular basis.
However, there’s plenty more to the story, especially where specific ingredients are concerned. For every ‘superfood’ rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, there’s no end of stuff out there that we should avoid eating at all.
The research, published in December 2024 in the scientific journal Gut, unveiled a strong cancer link with cooking oils and cancer.
In the US, colorectal cancer is the second-most prolific killer among cancers.
Specifically, it’s seed oils that we should consider cutting from our diets according to the study from the University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute.
Sunflower, corn, canola, and grapeseed are a few examples of the offending oils.
The cancer link was attributed to inflammation-causing fatty molecules that are found in a host of ready meals and fast food recipes.
Timothy Yeatman, co-author of the paper and surgery professor at the University of South Florida, said it’s important that we all consider cutting down on our intake of these oils and fatty molecules.
"We now see this inflammation in the colon tumours themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal," he said.
"If your body is living off…ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow."
To Yeatman, this news is cause for a wider rethink in common Western diets.
“Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor in the USF Health Heart Institute and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at TGH Cancer Institute.
“Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalance the immune system and drive chronic inflammation.”
Where possible, it’s generally always been a good idea to limit how much oil we use in our cooking. If you’re keen to cook with no oil at all, air fryers are a great option.
Featured Image Credit: jayk7 via Getty Images
Rachael Davis