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Those junk foods may cause cancer
Published on Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 15:52, Updated on Tue, Jun 19, 2007 at 08:00 in 
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New Delhi: Stressful life and regular eating out are beginning to tell on Indian stomachs. The latest fallout of the urban lifestyle is the heartburn.
Three in five urban Indians suffer from heartburn, a study done by an NGO Health Care Welfare Society finds.
City wise, 82 per cent of Delhiites suffer from heartburn, 75 per cent of Mumbaikars have heartburn, and the numbers are as high as 72 per cent in Hyderabad and 68 per cent in Chennai and Ahmedabad.
So what is heartburn and why is it a big deal?
“Heartburn is caused when the esophagus comes in contact with stomach acids. Left untreated, it can lead to acidity, acid reflux, or even ulcers and bleeding of the esophagus,” said Nutritionist Sakshi Chawla at Fortis.
The survey also finds that eating out – that is eating spicy food, processed food and junk food – is a huge factor in 25-40 per cent of those surveyed who have heartburn.
“We surveyed almost 4,000 people ... most Indians love to eat out and that leads to Heartburn,” said HCWS Director Anup Singh.
The problem is that repeated acid reflux could lead to cancer of the Esophagus.
“Repeated irritation of the food pipe caused by the stomach acids changes the type of cells in the outer lining of your food pipe. Over a period of time, this could lead to an abnormality in the growth of cells. And any abnormality in the growth of cells is cancer,” said Fortis Oncologist Dr Malay Nandi.
Before it gets to an extreme stage, you need to look at a change in diet.
If you can't give up on junk food altogether, try and limit it to once a week.
When you're eating out, try and avoid deep fried food. Instead, eat lots of fruits, vegetables, even curd, to balance out your diet.
Remember that lack of antioxidants in your food increases your risk of cancer.
And one more thing – try and tackle other lifestyle issues, like stress and long working hours, because all these significantly add to your heartburn.
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