The betel nut pages here at Taiwanderful seem to attract a lot of attention. Sure the women who sell betel nut may be attractive and interesting, but how much thought is given to the product they are selling?

Two recent news articles higlight the negative effects of betel nut on habitual chewers' health. An opinion piece in the Taipei Times by Chang Chin-wen says:

Research has shown that those who habitually chew betel nut, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol are compounding their risk of developing cancer.

In the last 25 years, cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan, with oral cancer the fourth-deadliest form. Nine out of 10 people who suffer from oral cancer are betel nut chewers. The oral cancer rate is increasing at an annual rate of 20 percent.

In 2003, the International Agency for Research on Cancer confirmed that the betel nut, without any supplements, is a carcinogen. The National Health Research Institute has said that within five years, Taiwan will lead the world in male oral cancer. Those little green betel nuts are a major public health menace.

Another article by Reuters correspondent Ralph Jennings raises similar concerns.

...four years ago, a World Health Organization study found that chewing betel nuts can cause oral cancer and that the rate of these malignant mouth tumors was highest in Asia where the betel nut is a widely used stimulant.

Despite the cancer link, betel nut addicts are chewing on in many parts of Asia. But in Taiwan, the findings have spurred a government health campaign against the nut which is grown on palm trees across the sub-tropical island southeast of China.

"If you don't want oral cancer, the most direct way is to quit chewing betel nuts," Wu Chien-yuan, chief of cancer prevention in the Taiwan health ministry, told Reuters.

The Reuters article was published in the Taipei Times on 12 July 2007 accompanied by a photo* showing a man who had had his jaw removed as part of treatment for cancer. It revealed the not so beautiful side of betel nut.

* The article and photo don't seem to have been published on the Taipei Times website.