Lifestyle ‘fast, convenient, cheap’ erosion of digestive health

Ngoc Linh is currently managing a restaurant in a 5 -star hotel. Her work lasted from 7am to the middle of the night. The training sessions, each wave of guests come to eat for a long time, a series of personnel meetings, superior reports … making her meals only raw shrimp noodles, cold bread, a few packages of snacks or biscuits and coffee.

“The most nutritious meal of the day is usually leftovers from guests, at 22:00,” Linh said, adding that I know this way of eating is not good, but quite fast, convenient and economical so it does not change.

After a while, Linh began to realize the alarming signs: constant fatigue, indigestion, weight increased rapidly and skin appeared more acne. High -intensity working pressure also leads to a series of other symptoms: insomnia, stress, reflux, belching. The increasingly serious signs made Linh worried about the possibility of serious illness.

Determined to “overcome lazy”, she went to colonoscopy and stomach. The results showed that ulcers in both organs, and warn that if they did not improve their lifestyle, the risk of cancer was very high. The doctor prescribes the drug, asking Linh to change the habit of living and re -examination after three months.

Minh, 30 years old, made graphic design in Ho Chi Minh City, also often skip meals. With a dense number of orders, often having to “race” to keep the deadline, spending time for Minh’s eating becomes “luxurious”. For many days, I ate sandwich bread, mixed noodles bought at a convenience store or ordered food outside such as bread, dumplings …

Minh used to have good health, stable weight, but in less than a year, he shot seriously, often tired, abdominal cramps and insomnia. When he went to the doctor, the doctor diagnosed him with gastritis, the cause was an unusual diet and prolonged stress.

“Every day I tell myself to prepare a more careful meal, but then the work is swept away, I just go into work,” Minh said, adding that it was only when the stomach pain appeared continuously in the middle of the night, he felt regret for overlooking his health.

According to experts, modern life is too busy so people, especially young people, increasingly prefer fast food, processed food … because “fast, convenient, cheap”. Not only delicious, diverse in taste, fast foods are processed very attractive and beautiful.

In fact, the trend of lunch replacement with junk food is increasingly popular with Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand workers, the main reason for work pressure. In August24, the data analysis company Euromonitor International was based in London, published a report showing that 11% of Singaporeans mature often replaced meals with junk food, up from 8% in 2023. Meanwhile, 13% of Thai office workers, UK and 14% Vietnam, 17% in the US and 18% in India snack at lunch.

Associate Professor Verena Tan, Head of Nutrition and Diet at the Singapore Technology Institute, found that this habit was especially popular in the young population group, who tended to be busy, snacking would be convenient for them to recharge while moving. On the other hand, the cost of this food is cheap, suitable for young people’s economy.

Dr.BS Le Huy Luu, Head of Division of Gastroenterology, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that the lack of scientific lifestyle is increasing and rejuvenating digestive diseases, especially cancer. Many cases have this disease when it is only 20 or 30 years old. Although some diseases come from genetic factors, largely directly related to poor living and eating regime.

In the same opinion, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Head of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Military Central Hospital 108, emphasized that unhealthy diet is the cause of about 30% of cancer globally. Processed food consumption habits, fast food and carbonated soft drinks are identified as the top risk factor.

Specifically, processed foods containing nitrite, nitrate, two substances can be converted into cancer -causing compounds. Fried, baked foods at high temperatures produce chemicals such as acrylamide, multi -ring hydrocarbons – DNA mutations and malignant cells. In addition, carbonated drinks and a diet of green vegetables that cause long -term damage to the stomach lining, increasing the risk of chronic inflammation – the factor leading to cancer development.

On the other hand, stress and chronic stress not only negatively impact psychology but also seriously affect the health of the digestive system, especially the stomach and colon. When the body is under prolonged pressure, the nervous system stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol – stress hormone – leading to changes in digestive function. Cortisol increases stomach acid, causes inflammation, ulcers and damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa. For colon, long -term stress can disrupt bowel movement, causing irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, diarrhea or prolonged constipation.

Prolonged stress contributes to chronic inflammation in the body, creating a favorable environment for the growth of cancer cells, including stomach and colorectal cancer. In particular, stress often makes people maintain unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking, erratic eating or consuming processed foods – factors that increase the risk.

Gastrointestinal cancer, including colorectal and stomach cancer, is increasing rapidly in Vietnam. According to the statistics of the World Cancer Organization (Globacan 2020), our country records more than 17,000 stomach cancers each year; 14,000 colon; 3,200 esophagus. The number of cancer cases detected early in Vietnam is very small, most of them are still detected late. Records in hospitals show that more and more people under 50 years of age have this disease, while previously often encountered mainly in groups over 60 years old.

To prevent the disease, Dr. Luu recommends that people are more careful with the diet. No need to completely give up your favorite food, but you should gradually reduce processed foods, greasy, prioritized to increase green vegetables, whole grains, fruits. Foods rich in fiber not only help the stomach and colon “operate smoothly” but also support long -term prevention of inflammation – one of the risk factors for cancer.

Spend time practicing relaxing techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, or meditation for 5-10 minutes a day. Just feel more calm, your body will easily “adjust” the disorders such as indigestion, abdominal pain that stress causes. A sufficient and quality sleep is also a natural remedy that helps reduce stress and improve the digestive system.

Give yourself a habit of periodic health check. Do not wait until the body “red alarm” to see a doctor. According to Dr. Luu, more than 90% of patients with stomach, colon and liver cancer can be completely cured if detected at an early stage and appropriate treatment.

“The current multi -model coordination has many progressive progress to help treat digestive cancer effectively, even the untreated metastasis stage can still help extend the quality life,” Mr. Luu said.