‘Pringles’ Cancer in a Can
Are you aware of the dangerous cancer-causing chemical that is present in almost every bottle or bag of potato chips? Pringles certainly contain this dangerous substance, but they are far from being the only culprit. Although acrylamide is found in essentially all potato chips, it is widely considered to be a harmful, cancer-causing chemical, which makes potato chips one of the most toxic processed foods on the market.
The Story Behind Acrylamide
Acrylamide develops when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures (anything above 212°F (100°C). Whether a potato is baked, fried, or roasted, acrylamide will be produced. Many of our standard carbohydrates can be slightly toxic when cooked, including potatoes, and grains. But the levels of acrylamide you would get from naturally cooked whole foods will never be as elevated as junk food.
For instance, potato chips and French fries seem to be the worst sources of acrylamide. In fact, a study by the Environmental Law Foundation found that every single chip product that they tested exceeded the legal limit for acrylamide by at least 39 times. Some brands had as much as 910 times the legal limits of acrylamide.
HEATOX was a study that examined the dangers of heat-induced compounds. The report shows that acrylamide is not alone, unfortunately. There are actually over 800 compounds formed by heat, 52 of which have the potential to be dangerous carcinogens. That means that there are plenty of reasons besides acrylamide to avoid cooking your food at high temperatures! For instance, heterocylic amines (HCAs), polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) all pose a serious threat to your health.
The bad news is that researchers currently don’t have an effective strategy for completely cutting acrylamide out of our food. In fact, even using all of our best technology, we are only capable of reducing acrylamide in our food products by 40%, according to HEATOX’s report. That still leaves a lot of cancer-causing chemicals in our diet!
Since you aren’t able to completely eliminate your exposure to acrylamide, it is crucial to take the steps you can in order to decrease your risk of cancer. Interestingly enough, home-cooked food is less likely to contain extremely high levels of acrylamide, so taking the time to prepare your own food is a good start towards reducing acrylamide in your diet!
The main method of decreasing your intake of acrylamide is to mostly consume raw or minimally processed foods. If you don’t cook your food, you never allow acrylamide to form! Raw fruits and vegetables are your healthiest option. There is a widespread movement towards eating raw foods, so you can easily find plenty of tasty recipes that don’t require you to cook your food.
If you aren’t quite ready to cut out that much cooked food, focus on eliminating your intake of obvious problems, such as donuts, sodas, French fries, and, of course, potato chips.
What are your favorite recipes for a raw-food diet? Share your tips in the comments!
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