New Study Links Eating Red Meat to Likelihood of Colon Cancer

Meat lovers who eat beef, pork or lamb every day are more than twice as likely to get colon cancer as those who shun red meat, and switching to fish and chicken reduces the risk, according to a major new study.

Experts have long suspected that the fat in red meat contributes to heart disease and cancer. But proving the cancer link has been difficult, in part because there have been few large, carefully controlled studies of the question.

The latest research, conducted on 88,751 women, provides some of the strongest evidence yet that eating lots of red meat does indeed contribute to at least one form of cancer.

“Moderate red meat intake is certainly better than large amounts, but it’s quite possible that no red meat intake is even better,” said Dr. Walter C. Willett, who directed the study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Peter Greenwald of the National Cancer Institute said the study “adds to the evidence of a risk of dietary fat,” but he cautioned against interpreting it to mean that people should stop eating red meat entirely.

“Meat has important nutrient value,” he said. “I would be careful about a recommendation that takes out from our diet a lot of important nutrients. The message should be to cut down, not to cut out.”