Oncology expert's cancer warning over common food eaten 2.2billion times a year in UK
An oncology expert has issued a stark warning about a ubiquitous food item that's a staple in many British households, so much so that the UK consumes a staggering 2.2billion servings each year.
Dr Tim Tiutan, an internal medicine doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, highlighted the dangers of instant noodles, drawing a connection to heightened cancer risk.
Dr Tiutan explained: "High salt diets can increase cancer risk by disrupting your stomach lining and fueling H. pylori infections-a major driver of stomach cancer. Excessive salt is associated with increasing stomach cancer risk by 55 per cent and may even double the risk when H. pylori is present."
He advised: "Reduce your salt intake to one teaspoon per day and try to eat high salt foods like these sparingly. Bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages, deli meats, preserved foods, canned soups, instant noodles."
The doctor added: "This isn't about fear-mongering. Small diet changes can lower cancer risk. Sodium is essential to life, but too much can be harmful. High salt intake leads to hypertension and other chronic medical conditions too.
"Sometimes health providers ask patients to take in more salt for various medical reasons, which people should follow,"
According to NHS guidelines, individuals should not exceed 6g of salt per day to avoid serious health issues, such as heart problems, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, and others.
However, it's alarming that just one packet of instant noodles might contain up to 6g of salt—the full amount recommended for a whole day—accounted for in both the noodles themselves and the flavouring sachet.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a type of bacteria that infects the stomach, reports Bristol Live.
It's incredibly prevalent - over half the world's population carries it - but many individuals are unaware they're infected. It harms the protective lining of the stomach, leading to gastritis, ulcers and cancer.
Recent studies have discovered that excessive salt consumption boosts the risk of stomach cancer by between 41 and 100 per cent.
Just a couple of months ago a medical professional warned that consuming too little salt could pose greater risks than overindulgence.
Gastroenterologist Dr Saurabh Sethi has shed light on the potential consequences of eliminating salt from our diets for an extended period.
While health practitioners frequently highlight the "dangers" of excessive salt intake, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, kidney damage, osteoporosis, cancer, and dementia, Dr Sethi emphasises that insufficient salt can also be "extremely harmful". According to him, salt is a vital electrolyte that aids our bodies in water retention.
He explained: "Without it, you would likely experience severe dehydration [and] your blood volume will decrease significantly, leading to a drop in blood pressure".
Furthermore, Dr Sethi noted that cravings for salty foods could become "very intense" if one's diet lacks adequate salt.
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