Some time ago, the hospital received a 29-year-old female patient. She is a mother of 2 children. She is a full-time mother at home and is responsible for the “housekeeping” of the family, as well as the food and daily life of the whole family.
Some time ago, because of my husband’s promotion, my work is busier than before. I often work overtime and rarely eat dinner at home. The children are usually boarding at the school, so a lot of food is piled up in the refrigerator. Because of fear of waste, it is not discarded. Once it is put away, it will be stored for a long time. When it is time to cook, the food in the refrigerator is used. .
The reason why the young mother went to the hospital at that time was because of sudden stomach pain. She thought it was just acute gastroenteritis and she ate bad food. After a series of examinations, it was discovered that a tumor had grown in her stomach, and the final diagnosis was gastric cancer.
After a series of inquiries from the doctor, I learned that this mother often eats food that has been kept in the refrigerator for a long time because of the fear of waste. Those foods lead to the induction of gastric cancer.
Everyone will be surprised to see this case: isn’t the refrigerator used to keep food fresh? Isn’t it safe to put it in the refrigerator? So why buy a refrigerator? Is its function a decoration?
It’s not that the refrigerator doesn’t work, but because we rely too much on the refrigerator and even overestimate its role.
I. How did the refrigerator become the main culprit of gastric cancer?
With the advancement of technology, there are more and more electronic products and high-tech products, and refrigerators are one of the popular electronic products. Now every family has a refrigerator, which conveniently solves the problem that food could not be kept fresh and stored for a long time in the past.
Some families, because they are usually busy with work or for convenience, buy a lot of vegetables at once when shopping for vegetables, unfinished dishes are stored in the refrigerator, and some even Store for a long time, for months at a time.
I made a lot of dishes in one meal, but I couldn’t bear to throw it away when I didn’t finish it, so I put it in the refrigerator, and when it came to the next meal, I took it out to eat overnight meals and dishes . Something went bad and tasted sour and thought it was still edible.
Most people’s perception is that time stands still as long as it is placed in the refrigerator. But what everyone doesn’t know is that not all food is suitable for storing in the refrigerator, and the food will be harmful to the human body if it is stored for a long time. Especially during the epidemic and the Spring Festival every year, these unhealthy living habits are particularly prone to occur. It is these unhealthy eating habits that increase the risk of stomach cancer.
The overnight meals and dishes in the refrigerator will produce nitrites that are harmful to the human body. When ingested in the stomach, they will be converted into carcinogens, and over time they will become carcinogens. induce gastric cancer.
Therefore, everyone must buy fresh food, buy as much as you eat, and cook as much as you eat. If the food is placed in the refrigerator for a long time, it will not only make the refrigerator emit an unpleasant smell, but also induce the occurrence of gastric cancer. Therefore, we should also regularly clean the food stored in the refrigerator at ordinary times.
When storing food in the refrigerator, there is also a certain attention to the placement. It is not enough to put everything in it. For example, do not wash leafy vegetables before putting them in the refrigerator, but pack them in fresh-keeping bags; root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes do not need to be stored in the refrigerator, but should be stored in a cool and ventilated place; meat and seafood are stored separately.
Especially for some refrigerators for middle-aged and elderly people, raw and cooked ones are kept together without partitioning. For example, raw vegetables and cooked vegetables are placed side by side, and quick-frozen pasta and raw fish and raw meat are placed next to each other. Such a layout is taboo, which will make the food taste off or even taste bad.
The food stored in the refrigerator can be stored for different times for different foods. Some may have gone moldy, and the refrigerator is a closed environment, and once food spoils, a lot of bacteria will grow.
Under normal circumstances, the commonly used refrigerator temperature is 4 ℃ to 8 ℃, some bacteria like this kind of cold environment, but they can grow and reproduce rapidly at this temperature. There is a large amount of food in the refrigerator. This superior environment accelerates the reproduction of bacteria, and the food stored together in the refrigerator may be contaminated by bacteria.
How can the human body not get sick by eating these bacteria-infected foods?
Second, what bacteria can cause stomach cancer to grow in the food in the refrigerator?
Bacterial vitality is very tenacious, and some bacteria even produce toxins, such as staphylococcus, and the low temperature in the refrigerator cannot kill these bacteria, and a large amount of toxins will be produced during the metabolic process. cannot be completely eliminated.
So what bacteria are produced in a poorly preserved refrigerator that causes stomach cancer?
1. Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori is the leadingThe culprit of gastric cancer. The National Health and Health Commission has encouraged people over 40 years old to go to the hospital for physical examination to check whether there is Helicobacter pylori in the human body. The bacteria can live in food and even spread through saliva. In the past, due to the lack of medical technology, Helicobacter pylori caused the incidence of gastric cancer in my country to remain high.
In recent years, the country has made great progress in medicine, which makes the Helicobacter pylori infection rate show a downward trend. These bacteria are very common in refrigerators and cannot be killed at low temperatures.
2. Salmonella
Salmonella mainly exists in meat, such as Beef and pork at night, especially when the weather is hot in summer and the air is hot and dry, Salmonella likes this breeding environment the most.
If meat is stored in the fresh-keeping layer or in the refrigerator rather than in the freezer layer, salmonella can start to multiply in the meat. Salmonella is very contagious, and food that is placed with meat can also become infected with Salmonella. This fungus can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and retching. Over time, the incidence of gastric cancer will increase.
3. Listeria
Listeria is mainly present in cooked In foods such as meat and dairy products, it has a very strong vitality and survives for a long time. Even in the environment of minus 20 degrees for a year, it is still vigorous and maintains its tenacious vitality. If the food is not properly enclosed, there is a risk of this bacteria growing.
Listeria bacteria can be said to be a very serious bacterial infection, mainly causing meningitis, severe abdominal pain, sepsis and so on.
There are many cases of human food poisoning caused by eating food in the refrigerator. After food poisoning, the human body will experience symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. During the treatment, the toxins will be excreted, and the human body can return to normal after a period of time. However, some bacterial toxins do not cause these strong reactions in the human body. After eating, they will accumulate in the stomach and slowly cause stomach cancer.
Each type of food is placed in the refrigerator for a long time, and bacteria will definitely be produced, without exception. So don’t be reluctant any more, the following foods have been stored for a long time, so throw them away!
Three, these 5 kinds of food placed in the refrigerator are the accomplices of cancer
1. Meat that has been thawed repeatedly
Everyone will put raw meat in the quick-freezing layer. It is very safe to freeze the original fresh meat.
But everyone has a wrong approach. Take out the frozen meat today, cut it into small pieces and cook, and then continue to put it back in the refrigerator to freeze.
Meat can grow a lot of bacteria after being repeatedly frozen and thawed. Therefore, try to cook and eat meat at one time after thawing.
2. Seafood
Most people know that boiled seafood cannot be eaten overnight, because it will produce a lot of bacteria. Seafood is the most likely to breed bacteria. There are at least dozens of bacteria and parasites on seafood. These harmful substances cannot be completely killed even in the quick freezing of the refrigerator. The bacteria that the dead seafood grows at room temperature in just two hours has already exceeded the standard.
So When you buy seafood home, please cook it at high temperature immediately and eat it on the same day. Also, it is not recommended to make your own sashimi at home.
3. Pastry foods
Pastry foods are rich in starch, containing Glucose, and bacteria like to decompose starch, so pastry food spoils faster than normal food.
Steamed buns, flour, etc., most people will put them on the fresh-keeping layer. They can be taken out and eaten at any time when they want to eat, but at a temperature of a few degrees above zero or a dozen degrees, they will not be eaten. A sterile environment cannot be guaranteed.
When making pasta, a lot of water is needed. It looks very dry on the outside, but it is actually very moist. This also causes some common bacteria to grow inside, such as Aspergillus flavus , if in the case of mold, aflatoxin will multiply. Aflatoxin is a very strong carcinogen toxin.
4. Seasonings
Many people think that it is very suitable to put seasonings in the refrigerator Yes, it can maintain its taste and nutrients will not change.
In fact, the humid environment in the refrigerator is very easy to make star anise, Sichuan pepper, etc. absorb moisture and become moldy. It is also easy to cause precipitation and crystallization of ketchup, sesame paste, honey, etc., which affects the taste and nutrition. At the same time, regular consumption will increase the risk of stomach cancer.
Therefore, the seasoning is best not to be put on iceIt is best to store it in a box, at room temperature, and keep it dry.
5. Soy products
Soy products are rich in nutrients, These nutrients are very healthy for the human body, but soy products are also particularly prone to bacteria. If you only put soy products in the refrigerator for a short time, such as soy milk, tofu, etc., there is no problem, as long as you don’t store them in the refrigerator for a long time.
Because, soy products are extremely easy to deteriorate when placed in the refrigerator, and sour and stinks are also common occurrences, so it is best to eat soy products as soon as possible.
Write at the end
In short, although refrigerators bring us a lot of convenience in our daily life, But don’t rely too much on the refrigerator.
Don’t store all the food in the refrigerator, this is not absolutely safe to keep fresh. After being stored for a long time, the inside of the food may have deteriorated.
If you want the refrigerator to play its real role, remember these few tips: The refrigerator is only 70% full, and the preservation temperature is controlled at Below 4°C, avoid storing expired food, cool hot food before putting it in the refrigerator.
Follow the rules of buying as much as you eat and use as much as you make. Never hoard a lot of food, which is prone to waste.
References:
[1] “Woman eats leftovers from refrigerator to contract meningitis, beware of “refrigerator killer”” Dr. Clove 2022- 01-19
[2] Ang Lee “Food in the refrigerator, bacteria doubles” [J] Friends of Health 2018-03:51
[3] Ji Jiafu “Prevent Gastric Cancer and Manage the Refrigerator” [J] Today Keyuan 2013-02: 98