PETA would love this as it seems to be a comparison of meat-eaters with vegetarians. That vegetarians suffer fewer adverse outcomes could be due to many factors -- reduced total calorie intake, greater care about lifestyle etc. Making meat consumption the cause rather than a marker goes beyond the evidence
EATING even small amounts of red meat can greatly increase a woman's risk of breast cancer, according to a study published today. Post-menopausal women who ate large amounts (more than 103 grams) of processed meat a day could be 64 per cent more likely to suffer the disease, while the researchers found as little as 57g of beef, pork or lamb a day showed an effect. Even younger women faced a slightly raised risk if they ate red meat every day, according to the study which appears in the British Journal of Cancer.
The study, led by Professor Janet Cade of the University of Leeds, involved studying the diets of 35,000 women aged between 35 and 69 for eight years. The research states: "Women, both pre and post-menopausal, who consumed the most meat had the highest risk of breast cancer. "Women generally consuming most total meat, red and processed meat were at the highest increased risk compared with non-meat consumers."....
But the study was dismissed as "rubbish" by Sandy Crombie, chairman of the Scottish region of The Guild of Q Butchers, who pointed out that 56g of meat was roughly half a quarter-pound burger. He told the newspaper: "Two ounces (57g) is absolutely tiny. I have never heard such rubbish, it's a tiny amount. "This is ridiculous, it's silly, it's barely worth talking about."
Source
See the abstract from the British Journal of Cancer (2007) 96, 1139-1146 for fuller details
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These kinds of studies are nothing more than scare tactics and you do have to wonder if PETA isn't sponsoring them. I know one thing, I LOVE red meat and you won't see me stop eating because of some ridiculous study.
ReplyDeleteThe researchers controlled for subject weight, which is about as good a measure of caloric intake as you could get for 35,000 women. The only meaningful lifestyle aspects they didn't include would be childbirth and breastfeeding, which generally reduces breast cancer risk. I would find it surprising if mothers ate less meat in general.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that you suggest PETA wants to misrepresent the data, but your post includes the comments of Sandy Crombi, Butcher spokesperson, who completely ignores the data.