Red meat increases deaths
IN THIS column on July 17, 2006, we wrote “A diet high in processed meat (sausages, luncheon meats, etc.) may increase the risk of carnivores developing pancreatic cancer by almost 70 percent,” following the release of a major study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and released to the public in October 2005.
The study showed “an average of 41 cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed per 100,000 people each year among those who ate the most processed meat compared with 20 cases among those who ate the least.”
This research, which included 180,000 individuals, also found that individuals who ate even non-processed, fresh, red meats, including pork, beef, and any other red meats, had a 50% higher risk of having cancer of the pancreas. While this is 20 percent lower compared to those who ate processed meats, 50 percent increase in the risk is still too high for comfort, since pancreatic cancer is a very painful and fatal disease, with no known cure.
In 2005 alone, 32,180 Americans and 60,000 Europeans were found to have pancreatic cancer, a disease that is often diagnosed late because they are not readily obvious clinically. Less than five percent of these patients live for more than five years after the cancer is first detected.
Scientists think the culprit-carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) may not be the saturated fat in red meats but the nitrate-based preservatives and the cooking method, like charcoal-grilling and broiling. Apparently, the cooking method and the nitrate preservatives each play a great role as carcinogens.
The burnt part of the meat, the black charcoal-like portion of the barbequed meat, is suspected to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing). While meat has to be properly cooked to be safe, burning the meat is to be avoided.
While the saturated fat in fresh (no preservative) red meat appears not to be linked to pancreatic cancer in this study, other studies have shown that people who eat red meat regularly have a higher risk for developing cancer of the colon, breast, and other cancers in general, compared to those who minimize eating red meat or not at all. Red meat also causes a quick rise in the cholesterol blood level, a condition that increases the risk for the development of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and Alzheimer’s.
New alarming studies
Current studies confirm that red meat consumption, fresh (unprocessed) or processed, increases the risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancers. More significantly, red meat eaters in general have increased mortality risk, compared to those who do not eat red meat. In other words, the death rate in general among red meat-eaters is significantly higher.
In the past, the medical debate was on morbidity (were red meat-eaters really more prone to develop diseases, like diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cancers?) which several studies have confirmed to be so. However, the recent scientific data show that red meat-eaters not only have higher morbidity rate to acquire those major illnesses, but that their mortality (death) rates were alarmingly higher, compared to individuals who did not eat red meat at all or ate it in less than three meals a week.
The findings were from the two prospective cohorts (the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study, which compared mortality long-term data of those who regularly consumed red meats, fresh or processed.
The results are so scary people health-conscious people might want to go vegetarian. But, of course, we have other meat and vegetable sources of proteins, like fish, poultry, legumes like beans, etc.
Scientifically, red meat is not an essential part of our diet. Abstaining from red meat does not make us, adult or children, unhealthy or less healthier. Staying away from red meat reduces the risk for heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and, especially, various forms of cancers.
In these studies, adjustments were made for multiple risk factors, and yet it shows that eating ONE additional serving of red meat daily, just ONE, was linked to 16 percent increased risk in cardiovascular deaths and 10 percent increased risk in death from cancer. You can imagine the adverse effects of eating red meat several times a day or a week.
“I think the overall message is that we should reduce our meat consumption and for processed meats we should definitely try to avoid or eliminate these from the diet,” recommends investigator Dr. An Pan of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
Certainly, red meats can be safely and wisely replaced by fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and other whole grain high-fiber food items. Together with daily exercise and other healthy lifestyle habits, this healthier diet can help maximize our well-being and longevity.
Science is on our side
This pro-active and pre-emptive health prescription is what we advocate in our new health “book of wisdom,” entitled Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children, which came out last August in the United States. The Philippine edition will be coming off the press before June 2012. In the meantime, the book may be viewed at www.philipSchua.com
Almost all diseases known to man today are self-induced or self-inflicted, and are, therefore, preventable. Unfortunately, many of us seemed to have “given up (que sera, sera),” and unwittingly programmed our mindset and behavior to a self-destruct and slow-suicide mode. We accept defeat, and leave everything to fate. I propose that, as a society, we must do away with this negative surrender and fatalistic attitude. Medical science is on our side. If we behave, we will get the reward. Behavior, in general, is directly proportional to the health benefits.
In cardiovascular illnesses, like heart attack and stroke, in metabolic diseases, like type 2 diabetes, and in most cancers, lifestyle and personal behavior are the greatest factors in the causation of these maladies, and these killers, as we stated earlier, are preventable.
As always, as far as our health is concerned, the ball is in our court. How we play it determines the quality of our life and our longevity.
*For more data, please visit: philipSchua.com
