They have also found, in further studies, a slight link between acrylamide intake and kidney cancer. They investigated the link between non-smokers' acrylamide intake (as smoking also contains the substance) and all cancers, and found a higher risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers in women with high exposure to acrylamide. They discovered that the variation between people with low and high exposure in an elderly Dutch population could be explained mainly by one product popular in the Netherlands called ontbijtkoek, roughly translated as "breakfast cake", which was extremely high in acrylamide due to the use of baking soda in the production. More specifically, evidence from animal studies suggests that long-term exposure to d ietary acrylamide could also increase the risk of neurodegenerative disease, such as dementia, and may be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in children, says Federica Laguzzi, assistant professor of cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The toxic effects of acrylamide have been shown to be cumulative, which means that consuming a small amount of acrylamide over a long period of time could increase the risk of it affecting organs in the longer term. The exact cause for this are still not fully understood, but among the theories are that acrylamide attacks structural proteins within nerve cells or may inhibit anti-inflammatory systems that protect nerve cells from damage. Scientists are sure, however, that acrylamide is neurotoxic to humans, which means it can affect the nervous system. How processed foods became so unhealthy.However, if we continue to do further studies on humans, we might have adequate data to change acrylamide's classification to a human carcinogen," says Fatima Saleh, associate professor of medical laboratory sciences at Beirut Arab University in Lebanon. "After almost 30 years of its classification as a 'probable human carcinogen', there is still inconsistent evidence of its definite carcinogenicity in humans. But researchers looking into the effects on humans have not yet been able to come to a definite conclusion. But scientists have found that doses of acrylamide is carcinogenic in animals, but only in doses much higher than those in human food.Īcrylamide could also increase the risk of humans developing cancer, especially children, according to the European Food Safety Authority. This process is called the Maillard reaction, and it causes food to brown and gives it that distinctive flavour. They found that a substance called acrylamide forms when we apply heat over 120C (248F) to certain foods – including potato, bread, biscuits, cereal, and coffee – and its sugar content reacts with the amino acid asparagine. In 2002, scientists at the University of Stockholm discovered that it might actually be wise to scrape the burnt bits off your toast. Many of these quirks are probably nothing more than superstition, but one in particular may have been unknowingly prescient a few decades ago, and grounded in a scientific discovery that was yet to happen. Perhaps you never lick food off your knife, or you always throw salt over your shoulder to ward off evil spirits. It's more than likely you still have some of the habits around eating and cooking that you learned from adults when you were young, maybe without even realising.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |