Diets high in red and processed meats increase cancer risk
Before you fire up the grill and load on the hamburgers and hot dogs, consider this piece of news on the link between diet and cancer.
In the largest study to date about the impact of food on the development of colorectal cancer–the nation's second-leading cancer killer–researchers in Europe have confirmed that a diet loaded with red and processed meats increases the risk of developing cancers of the colon and rectum by 35 percent. Likewise, a diet high in fish–a serving once a day rather than once a week–cuts the risk by 31 percent. Eating lots of red meat and almost no fish bumped the risk of developing these lethal cancers up to 63 percent.
Previous studies on diet and colorectal cancer have been less definitive and smaller. Some have found that red or processed meats, such as bacon and hot dogs, increase colon and rectal cancers, but others have turned up no connection.
The current study involved nearly 500,000 men and women between the ages of 25 and 70, living in a number of European countries. The participants were followed for nearly five years, in which time 1,329 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. The association of processed meats was stronger and more significant than that of red meat, but there was an increase in colorectal cancer cases among people who ate the largest amounts of both types of meat. No link between chicken or poultry and these cancers was found.
A possibility that red and processed meats might increase the risk of colon cancer was first reported in the 1990 Nurses Health Study by a team at the Harvard School of Public Health. In that study of some 76,400 women, those eating a "western" diet high in red meat and refined grains and low in fiber showed a 46 percent greater risk of developing colon cancer. American Cancer Society researchers reviewing data on 148,000 adults, ages 50 to 74, in the Cancer Prevention Study II found a 50 percent increase in colorectal cancer among those who ate the most red and processed meats for the longest number of years, though the increase was not statistically significant. However, in this ACS study, "high" consumption was defined as eating 3 ounces of red meat per day for men and 2 ounces per day for women. Many Americans eat more. According to this ACS study, a diet rich in fish and poultry was also associated with lower colon cancer risk.
The current report, published last week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, supports the American Cancer Society's recommendation against heavy red and processed meat consumption, in favor of a diet made up primarily of plant, fish, and poultry protein sources.
Grilled tuna and barbecued chicken have never sounded more appetizing, have they?
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