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Medical Forum / General / Nutrition / February 2005Red Meat & Colon Cancer
Red Meat and Colon Cancer: News Stories Miss Real Point By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D. It would be easy to infer from headlines on many news articles that eating red meat increases the risk of developing colon cancer. For example, "Red Meat increases Colon Cancer Risk," states one, while another trumpets "Red meat newly linked to colorectal cancer." In fact, the story is significantly more nuanced than such headlines (and many of the associated articles) make it seem. The source of the furor was a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Chao A ,Thun MJ, Connell CJ, McCullough ML, et al. Meat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. JAMA 2004;293(2):172-182). It described the results of a major epidemiologic study by researchers associated with the American Cancer Society and Emory University. http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.492/news_detail.asp The thing I don't like is that, like most studies condemning red meat, they don't distinguish between the different types of red meat. Cured "lunch meat" is totally different, for example, than good quality roast beef. I'm sure that there is considerable difference in their carcinogenicity. > The thing I don't like is that, like most studies condemning red meat, > they don't distinguish between the different types of red meat. Cured > "lunch meat" is totally different, for example, than good quality roast > beef. I'm sure that there is considerable difference in their > carcinogenicity. And what about the difference between pastured grass fed beef and feed lot corn fed beef? Ren? The Press often doesn't get it science right. It rarely asks hard questions on the topic of science or most other topic for that matter. > In fact, the story is significantly more nuanced than such headlines > (and many of the associated articles) make it seem. Science articles are often nuanced even when they shouldn't be. With meat it is an issue of moderation, context, and cooking method. > The source of the furor was a report published in the Journal of the > American Medical Association (Chao A ,Thun MJ, Connell CJ, McCullough > ML, et al. Meat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. JAMA > 2004;293(2):172-182). It described the results of a major > epidemiologic study by researchers associated with the American Cancer > Society and Emory University. <link snipped> The nasty combination in "red meat" is cholesterol and iron, though the unsaturated fatty acids don't help. There is also some arachidonic acid in all the cells, so you can't get that out by cutting the fat off. Then there's processing, transportation, and cooking techniques. It's no surprise that frying ground beef is rather unhealthy compared to boiled chicken breast, for example. Then there's the excess calories consumed, in addition to few (if any) anitoxidant-rich foods consumed. It's all about oxidative stress. The scientific literature is clear, just do a pubmed search for oxysterol or oxidized cholesterol and you'll see what I mean. > The nasty combination in "red meat" is cholesterol and iron, though the > unsaturated fatty acids don't help. There is also some arachidonic [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > is clear, just do a pubmed search for oxysterol or oxidized cholesterol > and you'll see what I mean. Powdered eggs and dried milk would likely be some of the foods richest in oxysterols. Many prepared foods contain these two products. Ground meat is a questionable food for a number of reasons. It is multisourced both in terms of cattle and nations. And as you say it likely does contain a little extra oxidation. Even quite conservative sources suggest the amount of beef to be eaten is the size of a deck of cards. I'll suggest pork and bacon have their downsides as well. |
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