The meat eaters must have lost their sleep when a few days ago it was announced by the WHO, that red meat has a connection with cancer. But the recent finding says that you don’t need to lay off red meat you just need to consume less of it.
The link between red meats and cancer was announced by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the branch of the world health organization that deals with cancer research and prevention.
A working group constituting of 22 experts from 10 countries, who conducted a research on a scientific sample of 800 studies gathered from the past 20 years. They gathered existing research material instead of fresh studies and studied people spread out worldwide by keeping an eye on their dietary habits.
The IARC deduced that there is definitely an association of processed and red meat with cancer. The meats showed a connection with colorectal cancer, and an association with prostrate and pancreatic cancer. The consumption of meat varies from country to country.
Dr. Kurt Straif, lead researcher of the team, at IARC “For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.” He further continued, “In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance.”
The fast food restaurants mostly serve processed meats whereas some assert that they deal with fresh meat only, but they preserve the meat for sure after processing it is for a little while. Red meat has a varied classification. Pork is called as “the other white meat” by the United States National Pork Board, and there are other places where the age of the animal decides whether it is red meat or not.
Lamb, suckling pig, and veal are also not categorized as red meat. Wild birds of different categories are called dark meat. All mammalian meats and bird meats like mutton, pork, beef, geese, ducks and wings are called red meats and this includes organ meats of animals and birds.
Processed meats and tinned foods like smoked, preserved, salted and cured meats, sausages, hot dogs, ham, bacon and jerky may have carcinogenic properties. Completely staying away from red meat is not the right thing to do as red meat minerals like phosphorous, zinc, and iron. It is also enriched in vitamin D, B12, niacin, lipoic acid, riboflavin, thiamine and antioxidants.
Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of IARC, states that “These findings further support current public health recommendations to limit intake of meat. At the same time, red meat has nutritional value. Therefore, these results are important in enabling governments and international regulatory agencies to conduct risk assessments, in order to balance the risks and benefits of eating red meat and processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations.” So enjoy the red meat gourmet delights but don’t be regular with them!
