Is breast cancer associated with eating red meat?

Processed meats, such as ham and bacon, may have a higher risk of breast cancer than red meat.

And although researchers have yet to find a direct link, more and more studies show that Limiting red and processed meat consumption may help reduce the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal and postmenopausal women..

Additionally, according to a scientific study published in the International Journal of Oncology, Replacing red meat with poultry may further reduce your risk of breast cancer.

How breast cancer and red meat are linked

The study, which followed more than 42,000 women aged 35 to 74, found that those who ate the most red meat (including beef, pork and lamb) were on average 23% more likely to develop breast cancer. than those who ate much less of it. In addition, women who ate mostly poultry (including chicken and turkey) had a 15% lower incidence of breast cancer than those who ate little poultry.

“We found that high consumption of red meat was associated with higher incidence of invasive breast cancer, while consumption of poultry was associated with reduced incidence,” said study leader Dr Kelly. Dale P. Sandler, Ph.D., is chief of the Division of Epidemiology at the U.S. Institute of Environmental Health. Meanwhile, processed meats such as ham, bacon and sausages can cause cancer.

Another large-scale study, a meta-analysis of 148 studies, found that red and processed meats were significantly associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. The most recent scientific report indicates that “red meat consumption may be associated with the development of breast cancer.”

Comparison of new and old research results

One of the first reports on this issue, the landmark Nurses' Health Study II, which included 90,659 premenopausal women aged 26 to 46 years, found that women who ate red meat four to five times a week had 14 more % higher risk of developing breast cancer. A later study of 44,231 women aged 33 to 52 reached a similar conclusion.

“Women who consumed more than two servings of red meat per day as teenagers were 43% more likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than those who ate red meat less than once a week,” said study lead author Dr. Heather Eliassen. professor at Harvard University.

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