When it comes to health, the stomach is often the "little friend" that we tend to overlook. It works diligently every day to help us digest our food, but we often inadvertently "treat" it. Nowadays, a worrying phenomenon has emerged: more and more people are dying of stomach cancer. What is the secret behind this? In fact, the answer may lie at the table where we eat every day. Some seemingly ordinary foods are like lurking "little monsters", eroding our stomach health little by little. Today, let's pick up these "stomach health killers" hidden on the dinner table.
First, let's talk about leftovers that have been stored for a long time. Many people uphold the concept of "saving glory", and they are reluctant to throw away the fried dishes, and save them for the next meal to eat. Imagine a family sitting around a table, eating leftovers from the previous day, feeling that it would be okay to eat it as soon as it was hot. Just like there is an Uncle Zhang, he has always maintained the habit of frugality, and the refrigerator is always full of leftovers from the previous day. Every time he eats, he eats it as soon as it's hot, and he thinks it's quite "homely". But as the days went by, Uncle Zhang's stomach began to "protest" frequently, and it hurt from time to time. When he went to the hospital for a check-up, he was shocked by the doctor's words - the stomach has already developed precancerous lesions, and long-term leftovers are likely to be the "culprit".
Why are leftovers so "pitting"? It turns out that leftovers are like a "bacterial petri dish" when stored for a long time, and nitrites will quietly grow. Especially leafy vegetables, after being stored for a long time, the nitrite content soars like a rocket. These nitrites enter the stomach and are "stirred" by stomach acid to turn into a substance called nitrosamines, which can be an important "fuse" for stomach cancer. It constantly irritates the gastric mucosa, like a small hammer hitting the fragile stomach wall, overwhelming the gastric mucosa, and the risk of cancer is getting higher and higher. So, for the sake of stomach health, it's best to cook and eat meals freshly, and don't give these "health risks" a chance.
Let's take a look at hot food. Many people love the hot soup just out of the pot, the hot pot, and the steaming porridge, and they can't wait to send it to their mouths, and they feel that the hotter it is, the more fragrant it is. Brother Li is such a "hot food lover", from childhood to adulthood, whether it is soup or rice, as long as it is served on the table, he will immediately start eating, and the speed is as fast as a "race" with food. At first, Brother Li felt that it was very refreshing to eat like this, but slowly, he found that his stomach was becoming more and more sensitive. Every time I finish eating hot food, my stomach feels like a fire is burning, and I feel a dull pain. Later, as soon as I ate hot food, my stomach hurt terribly. When I went to the hospital for an examination, the gastric mucosa was already severely inflamed, and there were signs of precancerous lesions.
You know, the gastric mucosa is actually very "delicate", and the temperature it can withstand is generally around 50°C. But the hot soup and hot pot we often eat can reach as high as 70°C or even higher at every turn. Eating hot food for a long time is like letting the gastric mucosa be "roasted on the fire" all the time and being scalded repeatedly. Repeated injuries to the gastric mucosa can lead to chronic inflammation. Over time, mucosal cells may "deviate" like naughty children, undergoing abnormal changes, increasing the risk of stomach cancer. So, don't be too anxious to eat in the future, let it cool a little before eating, and don't let hot food become a "murder weapon" that hurts your stomach.
Next, let's talk about over-pickled kimchi and pickles. For breakfast, a plate of kimchi or pickles, accompanied by white porridge and steamed buns, many people think that this combination is particularly "rice". There are also some people who like to pickle sauerkraut and pickles at home, thinking that it is a natural delicacy. Aunt Wang's house is like this, there are pickled vegetables on the table almost every meal, and the family eats them with relish. But after a long time, Aunt Wang's stomach began to feel awkward, and she often hurt so much that she couldn't straighten her waist. After going to the hospital for examination, the results made the whole family dumbfounded - gastric mucosal atrophic lesions, and finally diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Why does this pickled food hurt the stomach so much? On the one hand, high-salt pickled foods are like "small thorns" that constantly stimulate stomach cells, destroy the "protective film" of the gastric mucosa, and make the gastric mucosa porous. On the other hand, it also affects the normal secretion of stomach acid, making the stomach environment "messy", giving H. pylori a comfortable "home". Helicobacter pylori is one of the important factors leading to gastric cancer. In addition, nitrite is also easy to be produced during the pickling process, and it will turn into nitrosamines after entering the stomach, which is undoubtedly "adding firewood" to the occurrence of gastric cancer. Therefore, for the sake of stomach health, you can eat less pickles and kimchi, and homemade pickled foods should be treated with caution.
Finally, let's talk about moldy food. Some people like to stock up when they buy things, and rice, white flour, peanuts, and corn are a big bag when they buy them, thinking that they can be eaten at home at any time, which is convenient and worry-free. But if stored improperly, these foods can act like "damp sponges" and become moldy easily. Uncle Zhao is a hoarder, and his home is often full of all kinds of food. Once, because of poor ventilation at home, the stored peanuts were damp and mildewed. Uncle Zhao thought that he could eat it by peeling off the mold or washing it, so he didn't care too much. But it didn't take long for Uncle Zhao to feel sick to his stomach, and when he went to the hospital to check, he actually had stomach cancer. Doctors said it was most likely related to him eating moldy peanuts.
Moldy food hides a "big villain" – aflatoxin, one of the strongest known carcinogens. This toxin is so "stubborn" that ordinary heating simply can't help it. After eating food contaminated with mold for a long time, aflatoxins will act like a "ghost", quietly damaging stomach cells, making the risk of stomach cancer skyrocket. Therefore, when you store food, you must put rice, noodles, peanuts, corn and other foods in a dry and ventilated place, once you find mold, don't leave it to chance, throw it away quickly, don't let these moldy foods become healthy "time bombs".
In our daily lives, there are also some small ways to take care of our stomach health. For example, gently massaging the upper abdomen for a few minutes every day is like doing a gentle "SPA" to the stomach, which helps to repair the gastric mucosa and reduce inflammation. Sitting quietly for a few minutes with your eyes closed once in a while to relax the nervous system of your stomach is like taking a break from a busy stomach and reducing the risk of abnormal stomach acid secretion.