The International Agency for Research on Cancer (which is part of the World Health Organisation) released a report on Monday declaring red meat to be a probable carcinogen. Should you stop eating red meat? Not solely on the basis of this announcement.
Some background: The IARC has so far reviewed more than 900 agents for carcinogenicity and only one was found to be not carcinogenic. Other carcinogens or probable carcinogens identified by IARC? Coffee and wine (alcohol).
It’s important to understand exactly what this designation means. It does not mean that consuming red meat will give you cancer. It means that one or more compounds found in a very diverse category of foods (one that includes everything from fast food burgers to grass fed bison) has the potential to cause cancer. It says nothing about how much or what type of red meat increases your risk of cancer, what the magnitude of that risk might be, or the extent to which other foods in your diet offset that risk.
Weak evidence: In fact, a meta-analysis of 27 studies recently published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition concludes that the association between red meat consumption and cancer is, in fact, rather weak. And as more studies tackle this question, the accumulated evidence is becoming weaker, not stronger. Part of this may reflect the fact that the ways in which we raise, process and eat meat have changed in the decades since the earliest data were collected.
Let us be clear, meat is not essential to a healthy diet — and there are many valid reasons that you may choose not to eat it. However, as is the case with both coffee and wine, meat also provides beneficial nutrients and many people enjoy consuming it. And people who want to include meat (or coffee or wine) in their diets can do so without undue concern about cancer risks.
Source: www.quickanddirtytips.com
