(RxWiki News) Maybe you know that any form of red meat isn’t your best choice for protein. In addition to being high in fat, there’s something about red meat that increases a man’s risk of a number of health issues, including cancer.
A new study confirms that men need to beware – be aware – of red meat.
Men who eat a lot of red meat cooked at high temperatures, pan fried or until well-done are at risk of developing advanced prostate cancer.
Eating baked poultry, on the other hand, seems to lower the risk of developing any form of prostate cancer.
"Choose white over red meat."
This is what researchers from Harvard, Stanford and the University of Southern California found after studying the records of nearly 3,000 men with prostate cancer. A total of 1,140 men had advanced disease, 717 had cancer that hadn’t gone beyond the prostate (localized disease) and 1,096 had no disease.
The scientists wanted to study if and how meat consumption affected a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer. They also looked at the ways the meat was cooked.
After analyzing genetic changes that occur when eating red meat, the researchers found an increased risk of prostate cancer among men who ate high amounts of:
- Red meat cooked at high temperatures
- Pan-fried red meat
- Red meat cooked until it was well-done
They also found lower risks of prostate cancer among men who ate diets rich in baked poultry.
The authors wrote, “An association between meat intake and PCA (prostate cancer) may be due to potent chemical carcinogens that are generated when meats are cooked at high temperatures.”
They concluded, “Our results support a role for carcinogens that accumulate in meats cooked at high temperatures as potential PCA risk factors…”
This study was published in the July issue of Carcinogenesis.
No financial information was available.
