Is the sale of betel nut banned just because it causes cancer?

Recently, the issue of "Yiwu, Zhejiang Province requires merchants to remove betel nuts from shelves" has been widely discussed and has aroused heated discussions among netizens. In response, relevant personnel from the Yiwu Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau told the media: "We have not received any information about removing betel nuts from shelves in the entire city. Instead, betel nuts should be sold as 'betel nut products' and not as food. They should be sold in different areas and betel nuts cannot be sold together with food."

Some netizens said, since so many people like to eat betel nuts, why do we need to regulate betel nuts?

In fact, betel nut is not only a well-known carcinogen, but also one of the first-class carcinogens listed by the World Health Organization. Another point is that betel nut is addictive. Let’s talk about betel nut today!

01. Carcinogenicity of betel nut

This is supported by data. The incidence of oral cancer often ranks among the highest in countries and regions where betel nut is popular. For example, India is the largest consumer of betel nut, and its incidence of oral cancer ranks first in the world. Papua New Guinea ranks second. The incidence of oral cancer in Taiwan, China is also very high. In my country, it is mainly grown in Hainan, Yunnan, Fujian and Taiwan.

All data from China and abroad support this statistical result, that is, betel nut is highly correlated with oral cancer and is a significant risk factor for oral cancer.

The main reasons why betel nut causes cancer are as follows

1. Repeated chewing. Betel nut needs to be chewed repeatedly, which often causes oral epidermis to fall off, increasing the risk of cancer.

2. Arecoline. Arecoline is an important biological component of betel nut. This component can cause oxidative damage to the human body, leading to oral submucosal fibrosis and subsequently inducing oral cancer.

3. Added ingredients to betel nut. In many cases, betel nut will be added with some other ingredients, such as lime. This is because fresh betel nut tastes bitter, so it doesn't taste good if eaten directly. Adding quicklime can enhance the taste of betel nut. However, this ingredient is also a strong irritant in the mouth.

The combination of these factors leads to repeated damage to the oral cavity when chewing betel nut, which eventually becomes a trigger for oral cancer.

02. Addictiveness of betel nut

The addictiveness of betel nut is something that deserves great attention. Many people become addicted after chewing betel nut, which has been confirmed in relevant statistics.

There are many studies on betel nut addiction, and it is believed that there are two main factors.

1. Arecoline

Arecoline is an important component of betel nut, which may cause cancer itself, and the addictiveness of arecoline should not be underestimated. Studies have found that arecoline is a classic non-selective muscarinic (M) receptor agonist with a cholinergic response. Choline is an important neurotransmitter in the human body, and our nerve excitation transmission is related to this substance.

Therefore, many chemicals related to choline have the potential to be addictive to some extent.

Ingredients like arecoline, which can produce cholinergic reactions, can stimulate the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system to produce feelings of pleasure and comfort, which also makes them addictive.

2. Arecoline. Arecoline is another major active ingredient in betel nut. This ingredient is an M receptor agonist. In addition, it can also combine with the physiological effects of γ-aminobutyric acid receptor inhibition in the brain to block the neuroinhibitory effect of GABA.

The result is the same pleasure for the body.

The combination of these two ingredients makes betel nut addictive.

03. The ban on the sale of betel nuts

In summary, the ban on the sale of betel nuts seems to be expected! Of course, the ban on the sale of betel nuts should be done slowly. After all, betel nuts are also a large industrial chain, involving betel nut growers, betel nut producers and sellers, so they are also the source of livelihood for many people. In this case, if it is banned directly, it will affect the livelihoods of many people, which is not good.

I think that for the betel nut industry, we need to take it slow and make a gradual transition so that betel nut practitioners can eventually find new ways to make a living.