Meat and Cancer

Just wondering if there's been much discussion on here or what people's thoughts are on the recent evidence that too much meat can lead to cancer? Since its a staple part of any BBs diet I'd imagine many are concerned.
 
Before I broke my back earlier this year I was on a pretty rigid diet, and I ate meat every day at least once. Once I'm recovered enough to go back into training I had planned on following the same diet but think I might cut back on it now!
 
My father is a GP and he's been on about it quite a bit, made my mum cut back on how much meat she puts in our teas as we realised it was pretty much everyday..

Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.

The evidence that meat leads to cancer is nil!
The evidence that meat is associated with cancer exists - however association does not in anyway imply a causal link
If association did then people would be blaming obesity on the consumption of diet soft drinks - given that obese people consume the most of this type of beverage.

What such health scare stories miss is the mix of lifestyle factors involved in the development of certain cancers - in this case it is absolutely impossible - and yes I have read the studies  - to separate the association between meat consumption and low levels of fruit and ve consumption.

By that I mean: people who eat a lot of meat are also a large proportion of the people who do not regularly eat fruit and veg in sufficient quantities for health.

So to link meat on its own is a biased and skewed reading of the study data - makes for crappy journalism - even tho we see a lot if it.

The problem is the absolutely flawed nature of studies and their write ups - you read the study which shows an association and the discussion points at causality in a leap that is decidedly unscientific - in way too many cases.

To summarise - there is a link, causality is not proven, and given the number of confounders within such a study - and the way we can only use certain flawed methodologies and not a randomised control trial when looking at such phenomena - we should be careful when jumping to wild conclusions such as meat causes cancer.
when the actual answer is rather obvious - a crap diet increases your risk of certain types of cancer - which lets be honest is hardly earth shattering news - and makes for a bad headline!

Les Willis
Nutrition Consultant
Healthy Action

I used to think I knew what busy was - now I am too busy to think about it!

*waits for someone to quote from The China Study, which is a big steaming pile of epidemiological poo.*

If anyone has some quality evidence involving randomisation & intervention with cross-overs, please post it here.

Nigeepoo

If anyone has some quality evidence involving randomisation & intervention with cross-overs, please post it here.

[silence... tumbleweed rolls past]
Agree with the above.

People eating poor quality meat products and little in the way of veg and fruit as well as having other poor lifestyle issues is the connection here.

Big populations studies are hard to do, so many factors...

Registered Nutritionist
NSCA Strength & Conditioning Coach

also

in vivo and ex, research demonstrates no effect on thromboxane and prostacyclin or the activity of haemostatic factors

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