Big red meat eaters beware, your risk of colon cancer is 50% higher

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 14 Jan 2005 - 13:00 PDT


If you eat lots of red and processed meat over the long term you may be significantly increasing your chances of developing cancer of the colon and rectum, says Dr Michael J Thun, American Cancer Society, USA. According to Dr Thun (JAMA), long term avid red and processed meat eaters are 50% more likely to develop cancer in the colon and rectum.

Dr Thun and his team monitored 148,000 people, aged 63 (average age) since 1982 when they first filled in a questionnaire. They filled in another questionnaire in 1992 and also in 1993. The questionnaire asked them, among other things, what kind of things they regularly ate, how much exercise they tended to take and their medical histories.Dr Thun said "There have been 20 such studies looking at the relationship between consumption of red or processed meat and colorectal cancer, and most have shown a greater risk in people with higher consumption. But this is the largest study that I'm aware of so far, and it adds substantially to the available evidence about the relationship."

How much red meat is a lot?
According to the scientists, if you eat more than 3 ounces per day (men) and 2 ounces per day (women) you are a high consumer of red meat.

How much processed meat is a lot?
If you eat processed meat 5 times a week (men) or 3 times a week (women) than you are a high consumer.Those who ate lots of chicken and fish had much lower colon cancer risks but the same risk of developing cancer of the rectum.

What are processed meats?
Such things as salami, pepperoni and chorizo.

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