 | Red meat 'raises risk of breast cancer' |
| 4/3/2007 |
| Eating even small amounts of red meat daily can increase the risk of breast cancer by 56 per cent in older women, according to British research published today.
As little as 2oz (57g) of beef, lamb or pork a day showed an effect. Post-menopausal woman who ate larger amounts, 3.6oz (103g), of processed meats such as sausage, bacon, ham or pies had an increased risk of 64 per cent.
Even younger, pre-menopausal women had a slightly raised risk if they ate red meat daily, the study from the University of Leeds found.
The research, led by Prof Janet Cade, a professor of nutritional epidemiology and public health, involved 35,000 women aged between 35 and 69 who have been followed for nearly eight years.
The women all of whom completed 217-item food questionnaires, were divided into three groups depending on whether they were high, medium or low meat eaters. They were compared with women in the sample who were vegetarian.
The researchers took into account smoking, weight, fruit and vegetable intake, class, education and use of hormone replacement therapy.
"The findings are robust. Whatever we adjusted the data for we could still find an association," Prof Cade said yesterday. The study, in the British Journal of Cancer, says: "Women consuming the most total [all kinds] meat, red meat and processed meat were at the highest risk compared with non-meat eaters, although red and processed meat were only statistically significant post-menopausally".
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