Highly Salty, Pickled, or Smoked Foods
Similar to processed meats and the high salt content, any kind of food that has too much salt from pickling or other processes or that has been smoked can have chemicals present that cause cancer. The first issue stems from nitrates. While nitrates do not cause cancer on their own, they can, under the right circumstances, change into N-nitroso composites in the body. N-nitroso has been associated with an elevated risk of certain cancers.
Smoking and charring foods, even vegetables, has also some risk involved. When you smoke meats and nuts, tar from the smoke absorbs into the food. Tar, which is also found in cancer-causing cigarettes, is an identified carcinogen.
When you pair salty and smoky foods together, you see a spike in colorectal and stomach cancers. For example, Japan sees a much higher rate of stomach cancer than other countries because of a diet that focuses on salted, smoked, and also fried foods eaten in bulk. Moreover, in 2012, a research group from the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) reviewed data that had been collected from 50 case-control studies from China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea to see the relationship between pickled foods and stomach cancer. They concluded that those who eat pickled foods in excess have a 50% higher chance of getting gastric cancer than those who rarely ate pickled foods.
So, while pickled foods like kimchi are excellent for your gut in small quantities, you do not want to overdo it.
