Red Meat May Increase Breast Cancer Risk
A study done by the Harvard Medical School looked at records from the Nurse’s Health Study, which included data from 90,000 women who were questioned on their dietary habits in 1991, 1995, and 1999. One thing the researchers learned was that red meat consumption is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer.
The scientists also discovered that women who had a tendency to eat more red meat than average were also more likely to be overweight and smoke—two other factors that are of course also risk factors for getting breast cancer. But even when these 2 killers were accounted for statistically, women who ate more than average amounts of red meat still ran an increased risk of breast cancer. This held true even if the meat eaters were neither smokers nor overweight.
The study falls short, however, because it does not define what a serving size of meat is. Whether women ate a 16 oz steak or a 3 oz portion of some other type of meat, the number of their servings of meat was, in both cases, recorded as the same. Hmmm.
The bottom line is, however, that this study suggests that eating red meat may be causing cancer. So what can you do about this? Know the sources of the meat you eat, and try the Mediterranean diet, a cooking style that uses small portions of meat as a garnish, instead of serving large cuts for the entrée.
Source:
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/breastcancer/6632/red-meat-may-increase-breast-cancer-risk/