What Doesn’t Cause Cancer?!

August 21, 2009 3:00 pm     Posted in Body, Reality  Melissa - GW g+ page

girl smokingCancer. The word alone gives me the heebie jeebies. It’s a scary disease that somehow touches all of our lives, especially nowadays when it seems like everything causes this deadly disease.  Yes, we already know that smoking causes cancer; even if you ignore the doctors, it literally says so on the pack. And tanning is pretty stupid too. Fine, we get it.


By Melissa

So don’t smoke and limit sun exposure and you’re okay right?

Ha, I wish.

New studies literally come out every day blaming everyday products for causing the disease. We are constantly being bombarded by contradicting information. Doctors say don’t have too much sugar because its not good for you and dentists say only chew sugar-free gum. Only problem is that most things that are sugar-free have aspartame, which, you know, causes cancer. Ok, so, fine; I’m willing to sacrifice my FAVORITE foods, drinks (bye bye, sugar-free vanilla latte) and my gum addiction if it means preventing some sort of cancerous growth inside of me.

But that’s not enough. It only gets better (or worse).

Studies have shown that there are cancer-causing substances in soap, toothpaste, shampoos, and makeup. So, no food, and no showering, and then I’m okay?

Nope, not yet.

Because if I decide not to shower, at least I should stock up on deodorant if I still wanna have friends. But that doesn’t work either, because, apparently, deodorant causes cancer, too.

Hmm.. alright. I’m sorta running out of options here.  Maybe I should literally just sit in a dark candlelit room (lights probably cause cancer, duh!) and relax all day, everyday with some books and music.  I’m safe then, right?

Nope. I must be crazy! That is the most dangerous option of all since candles cause cancer now, too!

What. The. H-E-Double Hockey Sticks? Is there anything out there that’s safe?!

13 Comments on "What Doesn’t Cause Cancer?!"

  1. Casey says:
    Fri, 21st Aug 200910:27 am 

    I didn't know deodorant caused cancer too. I know the aluminum in antiperspirant leads to Alzheimer's.

    But if you think about it all of these products contain chemicals that were nonexistent before cancer became a concern. Soap has chemicals in it now, aspartame IS a chemical, candles are made differently now to burn slower, or longer, scented, with shapes in them, gel candles, etc. and i'm sure all of that involves crazy chemicals, deodorant hasn't been around too long, and neither has toothpaste and toothpaste now has more chemicals then when it first came out like the teeth whitening and anti-stain chemicals. And makeup is full of them now.

    And the ozone has begun to diminish which leaves us more exposed to the sun then our predecessors.

    Basically, limit the artificial things you put in on and around your body and you'll drastically cut down on your chances of getting cancer.

  2. Amelia says:
    Fri, 21st Aug 200912:45 pm 

    Apparently, burnt toast is also a carcinogen. Woop! Life kills, kids, and dontcha forget it.

  3. Kayla - California S says:
    Fri, 21st Aug 20091:16 pm 

    You actually ARE willing to give up things like sugar-free drinks and gum? I don't think you need to be that cautious. Who knows…you may only be adding on an extra year of life in exchange for never enjoying gum or Starbucks. Not worth it.

  4. Lenna says:
    Fri, 21st Aug 20093:56 pm 

    I think that in a lot of the studies saying "X causes cancer", in order to be at rick for cancer, you have to be exposed to or ingest a crazy high amount of said chemical. For example, there was a study in 2005 where it showed rats were at higher risk for cancer if they drank between 8 and 2083 cans of diet soda a day and that the amount of cancer that showed up in rats did not correlate with the amount of aspartame taken in(from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk….

    Everything probably causes cancer at some amount…and I think if you're drinking 10+ cans of diet soda a day, you might have worse things to worry about than cancer.

  5. bri says:
    Sat, 22nd Aug 200912:10 pm 

    Screw it, we're all going to die anyway. I'm not going to live my life in fear of the sun/deodorant/toothpaste/ect just because some studies say it's going to kill me. I could be killed while I drive to the store, so then these cancer risks wouldn't matter anyway.

  6. Leigh says:
    Sat, 22nd Aug 200912:26 pm 

    Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but candle smoke is also now considered toxic in large amounts. I read it in the paper the other day. ):

  7. Leigh says:
    Sat, 22nd Aug 200912:28 pm 

    Oops. Haha. Nevermind my last comment, I just read the end of the article :D

  8. A says:
    Sun, 23rd Aug 20097:19 pm 

    I totally agree with Casey about limiting the ingestion of artificial things. Bri, cancer is a horrendous disease and slowly wears your body down, leaving you in pain and unable to function normally. People close to me have died of cancer, and it is hard to listen to them asking to be killed due to the pain and suffering. In this regard, the less crap you put into your system, the larger the chance you will live a healthy life. It might be hard to stop having the junk foods you are used to and stopping bad habits, but it will be well worth it in the long run. In fact, there are healthier alternates to many products we use on a day to day basis. You can switch to organic produce, use natural soaps, shampoos and toothpaste; even cotton based anti-perspirants are available. I've made all of the switches above and more and I certainly still have many friends. I don't smell or look different just because I use natural products. In fact, my sensitive skin reacts more favourably to natural skin creams and makeup.

    I don't mean to say we can avoid carcinogens altogether, but reducing our exposure to them in any way we can will certainly help. Many different things may mutate our DNA and cause cancer, so the fewer causes we are exposed to the lesser the chance of getting it right?

  9. Mitchell says:
    Mon, 7th Dec 200911:41 pm 

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Is-there-anything-t…

  10. Freya Harris says:
    Tue, 11th May 20103:50 am 

    i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. *;*

  11. Amber Phillips says:
    Tue, 11th May 20108:44 am 

    i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. ..`

  12. Zoyla says:
    Wed, 11th Jul 201211:56 pm 

    Some more info. to share abuot gum and healthy sweteener choices: Pros: Gum with xylitol (a natural sweteener) is a very healthy sweetenr choice. Often gums with the ADA (American Dental Association) logo contain this. (Trident brand contains that). I read a dentist’s comments in the Reader’s Digest that xylitol actually changes the chemistry (for the positive) in the mouth. It is also considered very healthy for the body. It can be purchased at Whole Foods. Another sweteener choice is Stevia drops (from Whole Foods) that I use in my smoothies to sweeten up my unsweetened plain yogurt. It’s very concentrated and only takes a few drops so a little goes a long way.Another pro with gum is those with digestive issues such as heartburn who don’t chew their food well, can benefit from chewing gum following a meal (for a short time) because the saliva releases enzymes that helps to digest the meal.Cons of gum: Per Dr. Mercola on his web-site he advises against chewing gum in general because this stimulates the body to release some of it’s stores of digestive enzymes, due to the chewing process releasing saliva, causing us to think we are consuming food. Since our body has a limited capacity for producing them over our life time, he advises against wasting them on chewing gum.

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