WHAT CAUSES CANCER? How Physical Activity, Diet, and Environmental Toxins Affect Cancer Risk (updated March 2025) [caption id="attachment_9245" align="aligncenter" width="2240"] Causes of cancer[/caption] INTRODUCTION Have you been wondering what really causes cancer? One just has to go back to their high school or college biology class and remember the structure of the human cell. At the center of it is DNA. It is this genetic material that not only encodes how your future generations will look but is at the root of the causes of cancer. Mutations in the DNA, which can accumulate through the decades of ones life, and are mostly caused by exposure to environmental toxins, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, tobacco, and high carbohydrate diets, is the reason cells become cancerous. Most people know tobacco smoking is linked to lung cancer but it's also known to cause head and neck cancers, such as those of