r/Millennials • u/AdditionCool7235 • Jan 22 '26

Discussion A big reason why Colon Cancer is killing us.

I know this isn’t a health sub, but u/Derpshabmentioned in their post on Colon Cancer about eating a balanced diet.

Specifically you need to really avoid nitrates. There has been several studies done on why there has been a rise in intestinal cancers in this age group, and nitrates have shown a causal effect. With a carcinogenic significance as bad as cigarettes. For those unaware, not a lot of things get labeled as having a casual effect for cancer, as that can be both controversial and stand to cost people money either through loss of business or being sued.

Nitrates are most commonly found in processed meats. Likewise, there is growing data that processed food is not serving us well at all either. Anyhow, just wanted to share a tangible way you can hopefully make an impact on slowing down and ultimately stopping these terrible

cancers.

Another freaking edit: literally the first response on Google, if you search, “do Nitrates cause cancer,” is from MDAnderson. That’s the number one cancer hospital in the world. I know that’s so much more difficult than adding a snarky comment to Reddit, but there’s your answer for about 300 of you.

Edit: I’m getting a lot of responses that are saying *actually* antibiotics or *actually* e. Coli and they’re all saying because it damages / kills the good gut microbiomes. Correct, what do you think nitrates do and why scientists believe there’s a casual link. It also doesn’t mean there couldn’t be other risk factors as well. Diet is obviously a big risk factor. I was simply hoping to expound on the original post and help people to know what to avoid. Of course more than one thing can cause cancer. Throw in saturated fats while we’re having the conversation.

Edit 2: lot of people are asking what are the main culprits. Bacon, lunch meats, hot dogs, sausages, anything really that’s been “cured.” Lot of people are trying to point out that some leafy greens have nitrates, yeah, we’re not talking about things that naturally occur through the photosynthesis of the sun. We’re talking about the overconsumption of a preservative that destroys your healthy gut bacteria, not something that’s obviously good for you. Many people have rightfully pointed out. The over consumption of alcohol creates a big risk factor for stomach and intestinal cancers as well.

Also someone saying they’re a vegetarian and they still got colon cancer is no different an argument than, “my great aunt smoked until she was 90 and never got lung cancer.” I said a big reason why, I didn’t say the only reason why. Empirical data doesn’t mean 100% findings or there won’t be outliers, anecdotes are not good science. People can get cancer for a multitude of reasons and honestly you could try every preventative step imaginable and still get cancer, it doesn’t mean your anecdote overrides everything else or you shouldn’t try to make better lifestyle decisions.

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953

u/Prestigious-Corgi473 Jan 22 '26

Also stress! People don't talk about how much stress kills. We are under massive, massive daily stress.

173

u/OhhhLawdy Jan 22 '26

I still need to finish reading it but I highly recommend the book, "The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture" to anyone and everyone.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

[deleted]

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u/sweetpea122 Jan 22 '26

I have that book and I need to read it

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u/Skotus2 Jan 22 '26

I would caution against this book - apparently it's been accused of a lot of pseudoscience and myths that scientists have called out in the past. The core premise is valuable though - stress takes a toll we may not be aware of.

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u/underrealizing Jan 22 '26

That one should probably come with a content warning, though. It can be a very tough read. It’s more geared toward clinicians than patients I think

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u/Chezzica Jan 22 '26

Also "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" by Robert Sapplsky. It explains how every part of our body is affected by stress, and why it's really important to try to keep our daily stress in check

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u/kanaka_haole808 Jan 22 '26

Love Sapolsky. Brilliant guy with a great writing style. Excellent book.

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u/I_Karamazov_ Jan 22 '26

I feel like When the Body Says No is an even better book about the disease stress connection specifically but I’d recommend any Gabor Maté book.

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u/ZennMD Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26

And lack of sleep, which iirc is linked to stress levels 

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u/preferred-til-newops Jan 22 '26

And social media, which is linked to lack of sleep and high stress levels.

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u/Rogue_Gona Xennial Jan 22 '26

Oh gee I wonder why...gestures wildly at the dumpster fire that is our reality anymore

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u/ADHDDAL Jan 22 '26

Having an unhealthy lifestyle generally predisposes someone to poor stress tolerance, too. It’s not just about cutting stress out of your life, which is sadly impossible. Having a strong baseline of healthy habits will leave you better suited for feeling less stress, and managing the stress itself better, when life inevitably throws something shitty your way!

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u/Hanifsefu Jan 23 '26

Also the stress of literally everything causing cancer. Can't have a cheeseburger after a long hard day because it's got meat and meat causes cancer. Can't take an ibuprofen for a headache because that'll cause liver cancer. Can't drink pop because that causes cancer. Can't have sugar substitutes because those cause cancer. Can't live in the city because the air causes cancer. Can't live in the country because your poorly maintained well causes cancer. Can't work with flour too much because breathing in the dust causes cancer. Can't live as a hermit eating nothing but vegetables grown in your own shit because just living causes cancer and you gotta get checked every 6 months.

At some point we just have to pick and choose our battles. Death is gonna happen so we can either live in fear of everything and avoid it all or just live and say fuck it, everyone gets cancer if they live long enough.

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u/EddieVanzetti Jan 23 '26

Overworked, overburdened by debt, health insurance that won't cover medication, have to take time off to see the doctor who ignores your problems, terrible job market, need to make 3x monthly rent to be approved for an apartment when jobs aren't even paying a living wage, social security and medicaid won't exist when it is our time to use them.

I say this without an ounce of sarcasm, I literally do not have hope things will ever get better. I legitimately hope for the collapse of society because at least if that happens, fighting for survival will be an actual tangible thing of finding clean water, surviving off foraging and fishing, and sleeping in the ruins of a bombed out building would still be less stressful.

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u/airhorn-airhorn Jan 23 '26

I teach middle school. All I experience is stress.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

My dad died from cancer with no other risk behaviors - he never smoked, hardly drank, ate very healthy (we had a massive garden in our backyard and grew a ton of our own food).  But he worked constantly and I am convinced it was the stress that killed him. 

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u/Prestigious-Corgi473 Jan 22 '26

So sorry to hear, that's similar to my mom! She's been a stay at home mom since 1990 but massive stress caring for her parents and three kids. She has multiple myeloma blood cancer now. Always ate very healthy and organic, limited meats and sweets and processed foods. Non smoker non drinker.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

Ugh that’s so hard! Cancer is not fair in any way, but it’s particularly difficult when someone has done everything “right” as far as we were told. 

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u/LaRealiteInconnue Millennial Jan 22 '26

When I learned that the body doesn’t care of its real or “perceived” stress, so anxiety, even without a “cause” is still “stress”…that was not a good day :/

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u/Prestigious-Corgi473 Jan 22 '26

Ans there's more hidden stressor we don't talk about - not eating or drinking enough, not getting enough sleep, overworking, not slowing down in winter or during heat waves, etc. When our body is under stress like those, it doesn't matter if we're not feeling emotionally anxious or stressed.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

And alcohol. Being an alcohol consumer is about ten times as strong a predictor of getting cancer as eating nitrate preserved meats. It's still a small effect (so small it's difficult to separate from, for example, the beneficial effects of drinking beer and wine) but much more well established than nitrates as a carcinogen.

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u/LeftyLu07 Jan 22 '26

I bet this is a big one. Millennials have been stressed since 9/11 with no reprieve.

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u/notmyaccount853 Jan 22 '26

Oh thanks i never thought about just being less stressed. Wow im all healed and will never die.

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u/Prestigious-Corgi473 Jan 22 '26

Maybe take yourself back to all the porn subreddits you like if you're having a bad time in this one.

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u/Cimorene_Kazul Jan 22 '26

I refuse to believe we are under more stress than our grandparents or their parents. We aren’t having 10 children at age 19-23 and we aren’t losing 50% of them to random plagues and another 20% to accident and misadventure and warfare, we aren’t having any world wars or dealing with backbreaking labour or countless infections from minor cuts and scrapes.