ISLAMABAD: New research done in France points to a major factor behind the global rapid rise of diseases like cancer and diabetes mellitus type 2, which may often be linked to a common factor.
The risk for several types of cancer and also type 2 diabetes has been raised by safely used food preservatives as discovered by two large studies. These substances are present in almost every processed and packaged food, which are the most frequently consumed ones.
The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research was the one conducting the research, which had begun the data collection process in 2009. The studies included the eating habits and way of living of over 170,000 individuals and their medical records were also compared.
The results came out separately in two scientific journals.
One study, reported in The BMJ, tracked over 105,000 participants who had no cancer at the starting point of the study. Their health was closely followed for a total of 14 years. The researchers compared the high preservative consumers with the low preservative consumers.
The researchers looked at a total of 58 food preservatives. While 17 had no connection to cancer, six were however, identified as an increased risk of cancer, despite being officially labelled as safe.
The list consisted of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sorbates, and potassium metabisulfite. Among them, sodium nitrate which is mostly used in processed meat was linked to a 32 percent higher chance of bladder cancer. Potassium nitrate was connected to a 22 percent increased risk of breast cancer and an 11 percent rise in total cancer risk.
Sorbates, which are used in cheese, bakery goods, and fermented food, were identified with a 26 percent increase in breast cancer risk and a 14 percent rise in overall cancer risk.
The second research, which was published in Nature Communications, analysed the over 109,000 individuals to determine the relationship between preservatives and type 2 diabetes. At the beginning of the research, none of the subjects had diabetes.
From a total of 17 preservatives, the researchers evaluated the impact of 12 substances, which were found to be nearly 50% more likely to interact with the disease occurrence. Among those, five were already linked to an increased risk for cancer, such as sodium nitrate, sorbates and potassium metabisulfite.
The researchers claim that these are the first comprehensive studies that shed light on the interaction of food preservatives, cancer, and diabetes type 2. They were quick to point out the necessity for more research to confirm the findings but also alerted that preservatives could still impact one’s health negatively.
The researchers advised sticking to fresh, whole, and minimally processed foods as the safest way to avoid health risks.
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