If you have been watching the news recently, you would have seen many headlines stating
that eating processed meat and red meat lead to cancer.
With many news networks all around the world jumping onto this and suggesting we all stop
eating meat because we’re going to die because of it, it’s time to actually look hard at
this report and really understand what the research shows.
First off we need establish the definitions for what red meat and processed meat are,
because for many people these might be unclear.
Processed meat means anything which has been salted, smoked, cured or had any other method
of preserving applied to it.
Basically anything which has been modified to extend its shelf life.
This means things such as ham, corned beef, canned meat, bacon, pepperoni, sausages and
so on, are defined as processed meat, whereas mincing beef for example doesn’t make it
a processed meat.
Red meat on the other hand means meats such as beef, lamb, pork, horse, goat, veal or
meats which were a dark red colour before you cooked them.
Processed meat has been placed into Group 1 which is defined as “the exposure circumstance
entails exposures that are carcinogenic to human.”
Other things in Group 1 are Ethanol in alcoholic drinks, oral contraceptive pills (in certain
circumstances), solar radiation, the use of sunbeds, second hand smoking and smoking.
Red meat has been placed into Group 2A which means there’s limited evidence of carcinogenicity
in humans as well as sufficient evidence in experimental animals.
These groups only show how confident we are in how certain things cause cancer, not how
much cancer they cause.
During the process of either salting, curing or any other sort of preserving treatment,
scientists found that something bad happens during this process which sees the build-up
of carcinogenic chemicals.
The report also found that pan-frying, barbequing or grilling tend to also produce the highest
amount of these chemicals.
The report found that those who eat the most processed meat had around a 17% higher risk
of developing bowel cancer, compared to those who ate the least amount of processed meat
in their study.
This might sound like quite a big risk between those who eat the most, and those who eat
the least, but this is where the confusion comes into play, because 17% is a relative
risk.
We need to look at this in absolute terms, not relative.
Putting this into easier absolute terms, on average 61 out of 1,000 people will develop
bowel cancer at some point throughout their life time in the United Kingdom.
This study points towards those who eat the lowest amount of processed or red meat on
average seeing 56 out of 1,000 people developing bowel cancer at some point throughout their
life.
On the other hand, those who eat the most amount of processed and red meat will see
66 out of 1,000 people develop bowel cancer on average.
That’s 10 more cases between those who eat the least and those who eat the most.
Basically like most studies, this one too is using scare-mongering tactics by releasing
the relative risk compared to the much smaller absolute risk.
In the United Kingdom, almost 20 percent of cancer cases are linked to smoking, whereas
3 percent of cases are said to be caused by red and processed meat.
This means although eating significant amounts of processed meat and smoking are in the same
group, the differences in risk are very extreme.
If no one smoked in the UK, there would be 64,500 fewer cases of cancer every year, compared
to 8,800 fewer cases of cancer if no one ate any processed or red meat.
There are quite a few faults with this report, such as the fact that the whole diet and lifestyle
of those studied wasn’t taken into consideration, they only looked at how much people were eating
processed and red meat.
For example those to eat more processed meat are said to be far less active, have a higher
BMI, tend to not eat as much nutrient rich fruit and vegetables, and be three times more
likely to smoke, making processed meat potentially a marker not a maker of an unhealthy person.
Taking processed meat out of your diet isn’t going to completely get rid of your risk of
bowel cancer.
Getting checked for bowel cancer after the age of 50 can decrease your bowel cancer risk
by half for example, which will do a lot of good for you.
With only a difference of 10 out of 1,000 people between those who eat low and high
amounts of processed and red meat, it’s fair to say giving up smoking for example
is going to reduce your overall risk of cancer than fully cutting out meat from your diet
– but it is recommended to perhaps cut down on your overall meat consumption.
Meat is good in moderation as it is a good source of protein, iron and zinc.
In the end Cancer Research UK says it all comes down to moderation.
Eat plenty of fibre, fruit and veggies, cut back on your red and processed meat consumption
(they suggest a limit of 70 grams a day), limit your alcohol intake (or don’t drink
it at all) and never smoke (as that is always bad for you), and your risk of cancer will
decrease.