Report about red meat/processed meat. Confused

[Evelynross]

Since all the bad publicity bacon and red meat are receiving I'm a bit confused because on the lchf eating plan they are useful, what now?

 

[4ratbags]

Carry on as usual.

 

[britishpub]

There are 60 cases of Colon Cancer per 100,000 males in the UK according to data on the cancer research website.

This study says eating bacon may increase your chances of being one of those 60 by 18%.

 

[AloeSvea]

You could see it as the difference between treated meat (bacon, ham, sausies, smoked etc) and clean meat. And meat is as healthy as the animal's health before it got onto our plates.

I love bacon, and would kill to find sulfite-free versions of the stuff. I have even looked at how to make my own bacon. (I make my own clean sausages - ie no extra carbs as filler, preservative free etc - just the meat and herbs and spices to flavour.) But it probably does pay to watch how much you eat of anything that has additives and preservatives in it - ie bought bacon, is what that says, more than likely.

As a paleo gal and self-confessed carnivore, of course I am going to say try and get as clean meat as possible - if you can. 'Organic' or fresh farm-killed, grass-fed (and not corn and grain fed) particularly important for we diabetics. It's great if you can actually where you know the farmers and the conditions of the animals that end up on your plate. (I'm not in this situation though.) Find out if the animals you are eating have been fed antibiotics, if you can. Modern animal husbandry is pretty horrible, so if you can eat outside of that system - all the power to you! (And the animals!) And much better for your health.

Long-winded way of saying - it ain't the meat that is bad for us (we humans would not be what we are today if it was!), it's the **** that gets added to it and fed the animal , and the conditions that the animal has lived in, that is bad for us. So if you love meat - go for the most unadulterated meat you can find, and afford.

 

[tim2000s]

Let's just get one thing very clear here. Ageing "causes cancer" too. Should we stop people getting older?

This is one of those reports that raises some interesting ethical questions regarding life. We've known for a while that there is a link between processed meats and cancer - it is not new news. Red meats may cause cancer too? Oh well. According to the WHO data, the increased risk is an increase of 18% on the existing risk.

According to the US CDC, the likelihood of getting bowel cancer over periods of time increases as you get older, or in other words, if you are 30, the likelihood of getting it in the next ten years, is 0.07% and in 30 years is 0.97%. So, the likelihood if you eat the bad processed meats is 0.083% in the next ten years and and 1.14% in the next thirty years. Really not worth worrying about.

By having Diabetes, my risk of death is increased. I am 48% more likely than normal to have a heart attack. Everything kills you in some way. It's called life, so let's just get on with it!

 

[Brunneria]

It is just the latest food scare.

And it amuses me tremendously that (as @tim2000s says) when you actually look at the figures, the no of cancer victims caused by this is incredibly low.
Compare it with other cancers, and other lifestyle diseases, and the numbers are virtually insignificant.

It is just a sensationalist set of journalists doing the silly thing that they do.

 

[phoenix]

The summary from Cancer research UK is a good one for describing the relative risk including a paragraph on thepossible mechanisms. https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=world+cancer+red+and+processed+meat

This graphic from the article compares the risks to those of smoking.

(

 

[AloeSvea]

The summary from Cancer research UK is a good one for describing the relative risk including a paragraph on thepossible mechanisms. https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=world+cancer+red+and+processed+meat (

Great graphic.

What a bizarre comparison - cigarettes and meat! (In the first place.) And to lump together processed meat with red meat, generally. No wonder these health bulletins can make us feel confused, and deluged.

 

[noblehead]

Don't think WHO are suggesting that people eliminate red processed meats from their diets, they are saying to cut back on the consumption of such food products, there's plenty of other alternatives like fish, chicken and turkey.

 

[phoenix]

A lot of the newspapers stuck cigarettes and processed meat together though because processed (but not red) meat are in the same evidence category . Typically misleading headlines
I hadn't noticed the switch from processed in the title to to red and processed on the graphic. I think it would have been better if it represented processed alone as in the title.

 

[Enclave]

Just to put things in to perspective ...
according to some distant food/cancer report I remember ... vegetarians are not meant to get cancer (very blunt memory of reading) .. a few weeks after that I read that dear Mrs L McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer !
So I would say .... don't worry to much .. If your enjoying it .. then enjoy .. if cancer is coming your way then it will come .. whatever you eat. Mr R Castle never smoked yet died of lung cancer ...
I am vegetarian and don't smoke, but do not feel that cancer will pass me by because of this .. I will enjoy my life and try not to read all these reports that seem to be saying ... if you eat any food you will get cancer .. if you don't eat at all you will starve to death .. so I eat what I enjoy within my new found LCHF diet and enjoy life as much as I can.

 

[Dillinger]

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2015/10/world-health-organisation-meat-cancer/

WHO statement is based on observational studies, correlation does not equal causation, yada-yada-yada, I'm not changing my diet, but I anticipate that I will have to argue with my wife about not changing my diet more. So, thanks for that WHO.

 

[zand]

The only way to be really sure anything you eat isn't going to kill/harm you is to stop eating altogether.

Pass the bacon

 

[Brunneria]

The only way to be really sure anything you eat isn't going to kill/harm you is to stop eating altogether.

Pass the bacon

yes. but then you end up with vit deficiencies and malnutrition

(that was a joke, by the way )

 

[SunnyExpat]

Just me that's quietly glad I made the switch from red meat (saturated fat), to unsaturated, and so also avoiding processed meats?
I can't see any point at all in decreasing the risk of diabetic complications, just for the sake of risking a different problem, by something that is so easily avoided, no matter how small I make the risk look.

But, if you can't put them down, it's a personal choice, everyone needs to find a diet they are happy with, no matter what choice they make to include in it.

 

[Scouser58]

Greetings to all in this post, the old scare's are making the rounds again.
Don't eat bacon, processed meat? I always thought it was from the cut of a pig! and then had salt added to it. Sausages are another thing, they can be very good with meat and seasonings, or they can be full of cereals, fats, and god knows what else. There are al sorts of recipes for these little food things, and even instructions for what they should contain, meat, fat, seasonings, spices, I watched a prog on tv about the contents of sausages and it made me think again about them, but every now and then they are ok.
Red meats are the basis of our lives, as a kid I had lots of meat meals, and only in the last couple of decades has all this about meats keeps coming up, and what about ham, roast it, boil it and ham is from cuts of pork, how much processing is done there?
Well this subject is likely to go on and on, and we all need to eat, and we as all very carefully choose what we eat and how much we eat. Lets leave the bods in labs to their own devices and we will do our own thing with what we eat, ttfn from Karen.

 

[Celeriac]

I don't eat bacon as I find it too salty. You can get nitrate free organic bacon in the UK, I've tried the Laverstoke Park Farm one and that's lovely.

 

[Mep]

I don't eat processed meats because it isn't good for my bladder. As for other meat, I eat that but I don't eat too much of it. Although I'm the type of person that can get 2-3 meals out of a chicken breast, etc. So I eat a little of everything and rotate through. I tend to eat white meats 4 days of the week and red meat about 3 days on average. I have family members who used to worry themselves over all the latest data about food. Eg. milk isn't good, eggs aren't good,... on and on it goes. I used to say well breathing air isn't good either I suppose as it's polluted. You may get fresher air living a country lifestyle maybe. There's no point in worrying ourselves sick.... enjoy life as best you can and eat what you can that doesn't cause a big problem for you.

 

[Phub]

I had IBS for years. It has vanished since I started eating more or less a Paleo diet.
This latest 'scare' is just that. I can almost hear the animal welfare/rights brigade sharpening their swords again. Carry on and eat as you normally do, if you are a carnivorous person. In any case the reports are saying that any dangers are insignificant, compared to smoking. And even that doesn't kill everyone who smokes. Well, okay it did kill an old chap in my street, but he was 97 anyhow, and had smoked all his adult life. So I guess he was taking a chance!

 

[Brunneria]

I had IBS for years. It has vanished since I started eating more or less a Paleo diet.
This latest 'scare' is just that. I can almost hear the animal welfare/rights brigade sharpening their swords again. Carry on and eat as you normally do, if you are a carnivorous person. In any case the reports are saying that any dangers are insignificant, compared to smoking. And even that doesn't kill everyone who smokes. Well, okay it did kill an old chap in my street, but he was 97 anyhow, and had smoked all his adult life. So I guess he was taking a chance!

Plus, when they compare the stats with smokers, they usually choose 'lung cancer'.
Smoking causes (or contributes to) many other cancers, so the 'smoking risk' is far greater than listed.