Watch what you eat, how it’s cooked and when you consume it. It can help keep you cancer-free. Some cancer-causing food habits include:

1) Drinking very hot liquids
In a study published in the British medical Journal in March, Iranian researchers showed a connection between drinking very hot tea – at a temperature higher than 70 deg C – and an eight-fold increase risk of throat cancer. The researchers also discovered that people who regularly drank hot tea less than two minutes after pouring were five times more likely to develop throat cancer than those who let their tea cool down for at least four minutes. Injuring the lining of the throat repeatedly with hot fluids very likely triggers the cancer.

My hot beverages are often stone-cold by the time I get around to drinking them because I get engrossed in other things easily. It’s just as well.

2) Eating meats cooked at very high temperatures
In another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in June, a significant link was found between breast cancer risk and red meat intake in countries where high-temperature cooking methods like roasting, grilling, frying, deep frying and barbecuing were popular. Chemicals which are carcinogenic or cancer-causing are produced when certain meats are cooked at high temperatures.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US, heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are created from the cooking of muscle meats like beef, pork, fish and poultry. High cooking temperatures cause a chemical reaction between creatine (a chemical found in muscles) and amino acids (the building blocks of protein), resulting in the formation of HCAs. NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics established a link between the consumption of cooked meats and people with stomach cancer. They observed that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who preferred their beef rare or medium-rare. Very high temperature cooking methods like barbecuing, frying and broiling produce the most HCAs.

Now, I’m not much of a meat eater but I do like to make gravy from meat drippings during special occasions like Christmas dinner. Apparently, this is a no-no too as such meat drippings contain substantial amounts of HCAs. What a party-pooper.

3) Eating foods in general cooked at very high temperatures
Acrylamide is a carcinogen formed at very high cooking temperatures, including French fries, potato chips, biscuits, crisps and other baked foods. Foods cooked at temperatures less than 120 deg C show no signs of acrylamide so far.

The rule of thumb, advises the World Health Organisation, is avoid cooking food at too high a temperature or for too long.

4) Re-using cooking oil
Oh dear, I’ve done this many times. Using cooking oil repeatedly releases carcinogenic substances, so this is a bad habit.

5) Consuming processed food
Research has shown that food additives or preservatives found in processed food may react with DNA in cells to cause cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research published a report in 2007 which showed convincing evidence that eating processed meat increases colorectal cancer risk.

6) Eating salty foods
The same report stated that consuming salt, salted and salty food leads to a probably increased risk of stomach cancer. A pharmacist at Singapore’s National Cancer Centre, Ms Chang Yok Ying, said that excessive salt intake causes damage to the lining of the stomach which increases the risk of gastric cancer.

7) Drinking alcohol
There is convincing evidence that alcohol injures the tissues in the mouth and throat, thus increasing the risk of mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus cancer. If you must drink, keep it to no more than one glass, can or shot of alcohol a day, if you’re a man. Women should drink even less.

Don’t wait till cancer gets you before changing any unhealthy food habits.