Commercially-grown fruits and vegetables, potato chips, soda, popcorn, hamburgers, smoked salmon, hot dogs, pastries, and just about everything else like canned tomatoes, and even vegetable oils can induce cancer. These may include a lot of the foods consumed every day, but these are foods that may contribute to increasing your risk of developing various types of cancer. Also, people who consume a lot of alcohol and/or are heavy tobacco users face a higher risk of developing cancer than others.

When it comes to preventing cancer, certain causes of the disease are not in your control, like your age, gender, genetic make-up, and toxins from the environment. However, you can definitely manage other factors like smoking, stress levels, nutritional deficiencies, and lifestyle choices. Healthy dietary and lifestyle choices go a long way in reducing your risk of developing this fatal disease. The following is a list of foods that may contribute to cancer and should be avoided:

• Hot drinks
  Drinking extremely hot beverages might scald the esophagus, and damaged esophageal cells could lead to cancer. However, researchers believe that consuming hot drinks, along with exposure to other carcinogens, is a reason for the stimulation of dormant mutated cells. So, the next time you ask for that cup of steaming coffee, tea, or soup, allow it to cool down a little before you have it.
• Cold drinks
  Cold beverages like soda, energy drinks, and carbonated juices could increase your risk of cancer. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that men who drink a lot of soda or other drinks with added sugar face a 40% higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer. These drinks with sugar, additives, and artificial colorings are harmful to women as well as they add empty calories and might also promote the growth of cancer cells. Opt for freshly squeezed organic fruit or vegetable juices instead.
• Foods cooked at high temperatures
  You might know that raw and undercooked foods are unhealthy, but overcooking foods is also detrimental to health, and eating a lot of charred and deep-fried foods can induce cancer. When meat is cooked at high temperatures, especially smoked or barbecued, it releases toxic chemicals like heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These cause mutations in your DNA, increasing the risk of cancer. Similarly, when starchy foods like potatoes are cooked at high temperatures, they release a chemical called acrylamide. Apart from being linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, deep-fried foods have a strong association with endometrial, ovarian, and prostate cancer. So, avoid having charred or deep-fried meats and starchy vegetables as these foods may contribute to increasing the risk of cancer. Instead, opt for baked or air-fried versions.
• Some oils
  Corn, sunflower, and soybean oils release harmful compounds like lipid peroxides as they break down and oxidize due to high heat. This can destroy healthy blood cells and cause cancer. So, choose to cook in antioxidant-rich olive oil or with canola and safflower oils instead.