{"id":25050,"date":"2014-06-15T07:42:45","date_gmt":"2014-06-15T07:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=25050"},"modified":"2014-06-15T07:42:45","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T07:42:45","slug":"red-meat-linked-to-breast-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/red-meat-linked-to-breast-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Red meat ‘linked to breast cancer’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Eating a lot of red meat in early adult life may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer, according to a US study.<\/p>\n
Harvard researchers say replacing red meat with a combination of beans, peas and lentils, poultry, nuts, and fish may reduce the risk in younger women.<\/p>\n
But UK experts urge caution, saying other studies have shown no clear link between red meat and breast cancer.<\/p>\n
Past research has shown that eating a lot of red and processed meat probably increases the risk of bowel cancer.<\/p>\n
The new data comes from a US study tracking the health of 89,000 women aged 24 to 43.<\/p>\n
A team, led by Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, analysed the diets of almost 3,000 women who developed breast cancer.<\/p>\n
“Higher red meat intake in early adulthood may be a risk factor for breast cancer,” they report in the\u00a0British Medical Journal.<\/a><\/p>\n “And replacing red meat with a combination of legumes, poultry, nuts and fish may reduce the risk of breast cancer.”<\/p>\n Dr Maryam Farvid and colleagues described the risk as “small”.<\/p>\n Prof Tim Key<\/a>, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said the US study found “only a weak link” between eating red meat and breast cancer, which was “not strong enough to change the existing evidence that has found no definite link between the two”.<\/p>\n “Women can reduce their risk of breast cancer by maintaining a healthy weight, drinking less alcohol and being physically active, and it’s not a bad idea to swap some red meat – which is linked to bowel cancer – for white meat, beans or fish,” he added.<\/p>\n Prof Valerie Beral, director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said dozens of studies had looked at breast cancer risk associated with diet.<\/p>\n “The totality of the available evidence indicates that red meat consumption has little or no effect on breast cancer risk, so results from a single study cannot be considered in isolation,” she said.<\/p>\n Sally Greenbrook of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said the charity would welcome more research into the impact of red meat on breast cancer risk.<\/p>\n “It’s already been proven that women can reduce their breast cancer risk by maintaining a healthy weight, reducing alcohol consumption and increasing the amount of physical activity they do,” she said.<\/p>\n Jackie Harris, a clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Care, said: “This study is interesting because it looks at young women’s eating habits and supports the growing body of evidence of the importance of eating a well balanced diet.<\/p>\n “Doing exercise and keeping a healthy body weight can also help reduce your risk of breast cancer.<\/p>\n “However it is important to remember that it can’t prevent it completely.<\/p>\n “Being female, increasing age and having a significant family history are the three main risk factors for developing breast cancer.”<\/p>\n Red meat ‘limits’<\/p>\n Evidence has shown that there is probably a link between eating lots of red and processed meat, and the risk of bowel cancer.<\/p>\n The Department of Health has\u00a0advised<\/a>\u00a0that people who eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red and processed meat a day cut down to 70g.<\/p>\n