Vegan Health News - May 16 2007
Healthy Vegan |
Meat-eating Women At Breast Cancer Risk
by Anne Harding in New York, www.news.com.au
May 4 - POSTMENOPAUSAL women who have eaten a lot of grilled, barbecued and smoked meat over their lifetime have a nearly 50 per cent higher risk of developing breast cancer, researchers say.
And big meat-eaters who also skimped on fruit and vegetables had a 74
per cent increased risk of the disease.
Dr Susan Steck of the University of South Carolina in Columbia and her
colleagues found that postmenopausal women who consumed the most
grilled, barbecued or smoked red meat over their lifetime had a 47 per
cent increased risk of breast cancer.
The findings "support the cancer prevention guidelines that are
currently recommended" calling for people to eat more plant-based
foods and limit processed or red meat consumption, Dr Steck said.
But she said while the study found a close association, it didn't
actually show that cooked meats caused breast cancer.
Other related factors could be at work, such as high fat content in
the diet of women who consume these types of meat products.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines are known
carcinogens produced by cooking meat at high temperatures, Dr Steck
and her team said in their report.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in grilled, barbecued and
smoked meat (as well as many other foods), while pan-fried and grilled
meat have particularly high heterocyclic amine content.
Dr Steck and her colleagues compared the lifetime and recent
consumption of cooked meat among 1508 women with breast cancer and
1556 healthy women.
Postmenopausal women in the highest two thirds for lifetime
consumption of smoked, grilled or barbecued meats - more than once a
week - had a 47 per cent greater risk of the disease compared with
women who ate the least amount of meat - once a week or less.
And postmenopausal women who ate plenty of barbecued or smoked meat
but few fruits and vegetables (less than five servings per day) were
at a 74 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.
Since the study was among the first to look at lifetime cooked meat
consumption and breast cancer risk, the findings needed to be
confirmed in other studies.
Reference: Daily Telegraph
