The most basic food such as bread, biscuits, potato chips and French fries (that are eaten by millions around the world everyday) contain alarmingly high quantities of acrylamide, a substance believed to cause cancer.

This report came from a study carried out of Stockholm University, jointly with Sweden's National Food Administration, a government food safety agency. The report explained that the heating of carbohydrate-rich foods, (such as potatoes, rice or cereals) formed acrylamide, a probable human carcinogen.

The research was deemed so urgent, that the scientists decided on taking the unusual step of releasing it to the press, in July 2002,  before the results were even officially published in an academic journal, in order to warn the general public.

At the press conference, scientists highlighted that French fries sold at everyone's favorite fast-food restaurants such as Burger King and McDonald's contained about 100 times the one microgram per liter maximum permitted by the World Health Organization for drinking water. (One milligram, or 0.001 grams, contains 1,000 micrograms). Furthermore, an ordinary bag of potato chips contains up to 500 times more of the substance using this same criteria as set by the WHO. This information certainly sounds very scary.

Fast-food French fries showed the highest levels of acrylamide among the foods tested by an independent agency, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).  CSPI had tested, with large orders containing 39 to 72 micrograms. One-ounce portions of Pringles potato crisps contained about 25 micrograms, with corn-based Fritos and Tostitos containing half that amount or less. Regular and Honey Nut Cheerios contained 6 or 7 micrograms of the carcinogenic substance.

Among the findings:  

Acrylamide is colorless and crystalline solid in nature. It is possibly a medium hazard form of human carcinogen. It induces gene mutations and has been shown, in animal tests,  to cause benign and malignant stomach tumors. Acrylamide is formed during the preparation of food especially at high heat (as in oven-baked or deep-friend). This discovery is new. It may now be possible to explain some of the cases of cancer caused by food.

Deep fried food should be avoided as much as possible. In addition to acrylamide, it is prepared using, and therefore contain a high concentration of, trans-fat.  Trans-fat is a special kind of polyunsaturated  vegetable oil that has been transformed, under a heating process, into a solid form at room temperature. Trans-fat is used for most deep-frying and extensively used in processed food. It has been shown to cause cancer in many studies.

Steaming is a better choice. If you wish to deep fry, use saturated oil such as palm or coconut oil rather than polyunsaturated fat such as corn oil or mono-unsaturated fat such as olive oil as the heat changes the chemical structure of the oil into trans-fat - the worse kind of fat you can ever consume.

What do French Fries contain:

• Starchy potato which behaves like a sugar in your body and contributes to diabetes.
   
• Acrylamide, a proven carcinogen.
   
• Trans-fat, the worse type of fat and leads to cancer.

 
About The Author

Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H., A.B.A.A.M. is a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California. He also holds a Masters of Public Health degree and is Board Certified in Anti-aging Medicine by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. He has authored numerous articles and the following books: The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity, How to Stay Young and Live Longer, Estrogen Dominance - Hormonal Imbalance of the 21st Century, and Beating Cancer with Natural Medicine.

 
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