A study shows that even "moderate" consumption of red meat and processed meat increases the risk of colon cancer

Eating even "moderate" amounts of red and processed meat increases the risk of colon cancer, according to a new study involving half a million adults in the UK.

"Our findings strongly suggest that people who consume red meat and processed four or more times a week are at a higher risk of developing bowel cancer than those who consume red meat and processed less than two. times per week."
-Tim Key, co-author

For more than five years, experts from Oxford University, the University of Auckland, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Cancer Research Group have been analyzing diets and rates cancer patients voluntarily participating in the UK Biobank research project.

The results, published Wednesday in the International Journal of Epidemiology, line up on previous research and subsequent warnings from public health experts on the risks of colon cancer, also called intestinal cancer or colorectal cancer.

"Our findings strongly suggest that people who consume red meat and processed four or more times a week are at a higher risk of developing bowel cancer than those who consume red meat and processed less than two. times a week, "said co-author Tim Key, deputy director of Oxford's Epidemiology Cancer Unit.

"Most of the previous research was about people in the 1990s or before, and diets have changed dramatically since then," Key said, "so our study provides a more up-to-date and relevant insight into meat consumption today. 39; hui ".

The new study showed that people who ate about 76 grams of red meat and processed meat – according to the British government's dietary guidelines – were 20% more likely to develop colon cancer than those who did not eat it. only 21 grams a day. The researchers also found that the cancer risk increased by 19% for 25 grams of processed meat (a slice of ham or bacon fat) consumed daily, and 18% for every 50 grams of red meat – equivalent to a slice of roast beef or a lamb chop.

The WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified processed meat – which is salted, cured, fermented, smoked or otherwise processed "enhance flavor or enhance conservation "-carcinogenic to humans in 2015. The US agency also named red meat, including including beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse and goat …as probable carcinogen.

With the new report, "we do not claim that, therefore, the [U.K.] Government's recommendation is false and should be amended ", as other nutritional aspects must be taken into account, said Key at guardian. "The main message to the public is that it reinforces the government's view that we should not eat large amounts of red and processed meat."

For those looking to reduce their consumption of meat to reduce their cancer risk, lead author Kathryn Bradbury, a senior researcher at the University of Auckland, said: "You can try lunches or lunches without meat and swap red meat for chicken, fish or legumes. "

Bradbury's suggestion echoes a January report by the EAT-Lancet Commission that proposed a way to feed the world's growing population with the "global diet" of halving the consumption of red meat while doubling the consumption of nuts, fruits and vegetables.

The commission also called for a "global agricultural revolution" to reorganize the unhealthy and unsustainable world food system, which contributes significantly to mass malnutrition, but also to the man-made climate crisis. The EAT-Lancet report follows a series of other studies that have shown that it is necessary to significantly reduce the production and consumption of red meat.

As the committee's co-author, Tim Lang, said at the time of this report, "The food we eat and the way we produce it is critical to the health of people and the planet, and we seriously wrong now. "