Beef and Cancer ( a people service no 12)

Big study links red meat diet to cancer
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday June 15, 2005
The Guardian

International scientists yesterday delivered a long-awaited verdict on red meat, concluding in a definitive study of the eating habits of half a million people that beef, lamb, pork, veal and their processed varieties such as ham and bacon, increase the risk of bowel cancer.

Those who eat two portions a day - equivalent to a bacon sandwich and a fillet steak - increase their risk of bowel cancer by 35% over those who eat just one portion a week, the study found. The World Health Organisation's international agency for research on cancer (IARC) called for everybody to eat more fish and less meat.

The Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and IARC funded the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (Epic) study, which monitored the diets of men and women in 10 countries for five years. It found that eating fibre, in the form of vegetables, fruit and wholegrain cereals, lessened the risk of meat eating and that fish, eaten at least every other day, was protective.

"People have suspected for some time that high levels of red and processed meat increase the risk of bowel cancer, but this is one of the largest studies worldwide and the first from Europe of this type to show a strong relationship," said Sheila Bingham, one of the authors, from the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge.

"The overall picture is very consistent for red and processed meat and fibre across all the European populations studied."

Those in the high-risk group were eating more than 160g of meat a day. An average fillet steak weighs about 140g and an average burger about 100g. The smallest chipolata sausages weigh in at about 20g each, but premium sausages are around 40g, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. The average Briton eats 93g of meat a day, according to British Meat, which claimed there was no reason for most people to change their habits. "If you eat meat, you are not going to get cancer," said a spokesman.

The Epic study, published last night in the Journal of the International Cancer Institute, found that the risks of eating red meat were less in people who ate a lot of fibre from vegetables, fruit and wholegrain cereals. Eating any sort of fish on a regular basis - at least 80g every other day - had a protective effect, reducing the bowel cancer risk by 30% over those who ate fish less than once a week.

Although man has been eating red meat for thousands of years, it is the way in which we now eat it that could be the problem. "Meat used to be the relish and still is in Mediterranean countries. It is a treat. The bulk of the meal comes from the other things like carbohydrates and vegetables," said Professor Bingham.

When eaten in stews and casseroles, the portion sizes tend not to be so large, and the meat is mixed with vegetables which provide helpful fibre. But plain British fare, such as steak and chips, bacon and eggs and roast meats without much in the way of vegetables, could be more problematic.


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Brief Comment: Here stateside, I can see the lobbyist from the non meat alternatives citing this recent report to sway public opinion towards their side.

As if you needed more evidence, looking at the incidence of cancer (intestinal, stomach, etc) across the world, by observation one can arrive at a similar conclusion. More vegetables and grain (fiber) in the diet, with moderate amounts of fish, meat, poultry have long term health benefits for people within this nations.

BTW, from an economic standpoint cattle raising uses more of the earths resources.

I am a confirmed omnivore, though the balance often shifts more too less meat (red, white, chicken/poultry). Simply stated, eat your vegetables, increas your fish consumption, eat less meat and see how you feel after a month or two. Don't be drastic in the change nor dramatic in expectations.