If you’ve ever been faced with a cancer diagnosis, you know it can be a terrifying experience.
You endure the brutal treatments… and all of the side effects… because you are literally fighting for your life.
But when those treatments end, it doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods.
New research is showing a very serious risk to cancer survivors.
You’ve heard me talk about it before – and it’s coming right from your kitchen.
By now, you know how I feel about ultra-processed foods.
This lab-created fake food is literally poisoning Americans – and I have been warning my patients and readers about it for decades.
Now, we know that avoiding this junk is especially important if you’re a cancer survivor.
A new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention divided cancer survivors into groups based on how much ultra-processed food they ate.
They found that those who consumed the most had a:
- 48% higher risk of dying from any cause
- 57% higher risk of dying from cancer
Well, I didn’t exactly fall of my chair when I read this. I mean, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Some of the additives in processed food are directly carcinogenic. But beyond that, these foods fuel obesity, inflammation, high blood sugar, and other health problems that can facilitate cancer… and plenty of other diseases.
There’s really no “safe” level of ultra-processed foods that I would recommend. The smart idea is to get this stuff out of your life completely.
Skip the pre-packaged foods with 100 ingredients on their labels and start eating like our grandparents did.
In other words, eat real foods that still look like food.
Think fresh vegetables. Clean proteins. Healthy fats.
That’s important for all of us. And it may be even more important if you’ve survived cancer.
Source:
Marialaura Bonaccio, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Simona Costanzo, Emilia Ruggiero, Simona Esposito, Teresa Panzera, Giuseppe Di Costanzo, Amalia De Curtis, Sara Magnacca, Chiara Cerletti, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, Licia Iacoviello; for the Moli-sani Study Group, Ultra-processed Food and Mortality among Long-Term Cancer Survivors from the Moli-Sani Study: Prospective Findings and Analysis of Biological Pathways. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2026; https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-25-0808
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