Eating Red Meat Increases Colon Cancer

Studies done in Europe and the United States both showed that eating high amounts of red meat, whether fresh, cured, processed or salted, was linked to colon cancer. This link has been long suspected, but these two large studies, along with many other small ones, seem to make a strong case.

One study was done in the United States by the American Cancer Society. They watched over 148,000 people for eleven years and found that a high consumption of fresh and processed red meats increased rectum and lower colon cancer. The study found that eating fish and chicken seemed to be protective.

The study done in Europe was larger, watching over 470,000 men and women for five years. At the end of the study over 1,300 people were diagnosed with colon cancer. The study found that those who ate five ounces or more red meat a day were at the highest risk. This study found that eating fish was protective of this cancer, while eating chicken was neutral.

Twenty-nine other studies found that eating red meat increases risk of colon cancer by 28 percent, while eating processed red meat increases the risk by 20 percent.

All studies concluded that substituting fish for red meat could reduce risk of colon cancer dramatically.