red meat and breast cancer

wallycat

spotted this...never mind I was a vegetarian for 10 years before diagnosis...crap shoot!

TUESDAY, June 10, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Women who ate the most red
meat increased their risk for breast cancer by nearly 25 percent, a
20-year study of nearly 89,000 women suggests.

On the flip
side, however, replacing a daily serving of red meat with a combination
of fish, legumes, nuts and poultry appeared to lower the risk of breast
cancer by 14 percent, the researchers said.

"Cutting down
processed meat, limiting intake of red meat, and substituting a
combination of poultry, fish, legumes and nuts as protein sources for
red meat during early life seems beneficial for the prevention of breast
cancer," said lead researcher Maryam Farvid, who's with the Harvard
School of Public Health's Department of Nutrition.

Compared
with women who had one serving of red meat a week, those who ate 1.5
servings a day appeared to have a 22 percent higher risk of breast
cancer. And each additional daily serving of red meat seemed to increase
the risk of breast cancer another 13 percent, Farvid said.

Eating
more poultry, however, lowered the risk, the researchers noted.
Substituting one serving a day of poultry for one serving a day of red
meat reduced the risk of breast cancer by 17 percent overall and by 24
percent among postmenopausal women, the researchers found.

"Decreasing
consumption of red meat and replacing it with other healthy dietary
sources of protein, such as chicken, turkey, fish, beans, lentils, peas
and nuts, may have important public health implications," she said.

"Reduction
of red meat intake in the diet not only decreases the risk of breast
cancer but also decreases the risk of other chronic diseases, such as
coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other kind of cancers, as
well," Farvid said.

Because this is a so-called
observational study, it doesn't prove that more red meat increases
breast cancer risk. And the biological reasons behind the apparent red
meat-breast cancer connection isn't clear, she said.

Red
meat has been thought to increase the risk of breast cancer in different
ways, Farvid said. Cancer-causing "byproducts created during high
temperature cooking of red meat" may be to blame, she said. Another
possibility: hormones used to increase growth of beef cattle. Also, she
noted, "food preservatives such as nitrate and nitrite in processed meat
can also be associated with elevated risk of breast cancer."

The report was published June 10 online in the BMJ.

For
the study, Farvid and her colleagues collected data on almost 89,000
women, aged 26 to 45, who took part in the Nurses' Health Study II. The
women completed a questionnaire on diet in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003 and
2007, according to the study.

Participants were asked about
daily consumption of unprocessed red meat, such as beef, pork, lamb and
hamburger, and processed red meat, such as hot dogs, bacon and sausage.

They
were also asked how much poultry (including chicken and turkey); fish
(including tuna, salmon, mackerel and sardines) and legumes (including
beans, lentils, peas and nuts) -- they ate each day. The responses were
ranked from "never or less than once per month" to "six or more per
day."

Over 20 years of follow-up 2,830 women developed breast cancer, according to the study.

To
try to determine red meat's role in the risk for breast cancer,
Farvid's group also factored in differences in height, weight, race,
family history of breast cancer, history of benign breast disease,
smoking, menopausal status, hormone and oral contraceptive use. They
also took into account the participants' diets when they were teens.

"This
paper very usefully translates findings about the associations between
meat intake and breast cancer risk into specific, actionable,
risk-reducing strategies," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale
University Prevention Research Center.

"In general,
replacing one daily serving of meat with legumes, fish or poultry has
the potential to reduce breast cancer risk by a relative 15 to 20
percent. That is clearly enough to matter," said Katz.

But not everyone agreed that the study's findings were conclusive.

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the study wasn't "definitive."

"The
women who ate less red meat may have a healthier lifestyle, and that
reduces their risk of cancer. The increased risk tied to red meat might
only stand in for other unhealthy behaviors," she said. "A healthy
lifestyle can lower your risk of cancer in general."

However,
Bernik noted that eating a lot of red meat has been linked to an
increased risk of other cancers, such as colon and prostate cancer.

Efforts by HealthDay to get the American Meat Institute to comment on the study were unsuccessful.

SelenaWolf

Yep, although not completely vegetarian, I did eat very limited amounts of red meat all my life because I don't like it much.  BC at 50.

Infobabe

Me too. I find animal flesh disgusting.  After all, we are eating corpses.

edwards750

I think it's everything in moderation. Also, these are pre-menopausal women. I don't advocate eating red meat every day at all or sugar for that matter but I also don't buy it's a direct cause of BC. Too many BC cases say otherwise. To each his own. 

Diane 

voraciousreader

ok!!!! If I read one more study like this one, I'm going to....PUKE!  My mother participates in the Nurses' Health Study!  Yep!  Don't you always wonder who these people are???!!! Well, my wonderful mother, who will celebrate her 89th birthday, next week, is THE BIGGEST RED MEAT LOVER!  She also eats a bowl (not a cup) of ice cream every evening and enjoys a brewski with that rare steak!  She has never had a breast cancer diagnosis!  

I rarely eat red meat.  Have always enjoyed poultry to the point where my children should have grown feathers by now because of our poultry consumption, and I'm the breast cancer survivor!  Off to the loo now!

heartnsoul76

Oh VR, I had to laugh at your post!  It's the same thing with my mother.  She'll be 88 next week, ALSO eats a bowl of ice cream every night, always chooses red meat AND she drinks like a sailor!  She finally did get Stage II breast cancer at the age of 76, but that was after taking Premarin for 35 years.  And here we are all suffering the SEs of menopause while she lived it up with all the estrogen she wanted. Geez!  

I saw a study the other day on web.md - "Estrogen prevents breast cancer?"  However, the article says if you have any breast issues (so I suppose having BC would be a breast issue /sarc) then you can't take it. I've always wondered if taking Premarin prevented my mother from getting BC sooner.

So we're told no red meat, no alcohol, no sugar and no estrogen.  So where's the fun?  My mother sure had fun when she was my age.  And we're depriving ourselves… why?

AmyQ

You ladies are so funny!  Thanks for finding the humor when I'm feeling guilty for being a red meat carnavor.

heartnsoul76

Amy - I am so tired of all this deprivation and for what, we don't know.  I like red meat, too.  And high-quality hot dogs.  And by george, I keep saying I'm going to get drunk if I want to but I haven't.  I might be going on a cruise this fall - then I'm going to get drunk for sure.

Actually, I read another study that says alcohol consumption after a breast cancer diagnosis is good for you.  Haha, I think I'll just pick and choose which studies I want to follow.  I'm sure there's one that says red meat is good for you, too. 

wenweb

For someone who ate or did something that a study shows can cause BC, there are as many or more people who also ate or did the same thing and did not get BC.  I'm with the crap shoot theory.

voraciousreader

I don't deprive myself of ANYTHING! The only thing I need to cut back on is my consumption of books!

JennieTinMaine

It seems like every single day, a new study is released linking breast cancer risk to something new. Early on, in the first few months after my diagnosis, I scoured every word, every study, looking for the answer to why I had this disease. Now, though, I just want to scream, "ENOUGH ALREADY!!"

The fact of the matter is that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in our lifetime. That's 13% of women. And what that tells me - and should tell every one of you - is that the causes are as vast and varied as each of us as individuals. The focus needs to be on a cure, not performing study after study after study on how those of us with BC somehow ate the wrong food, lived in the wrong state, drank the wrong water, had too much red meat, spent too much time in the sun, have too many moles, used the wrong bug spray, drank too much diet coke, took too many elevators instead of stairs, ate too much non-organic fruit, swam in too many swimming pools, consumed eggs from caged chickens, got one too many perms, ate Pop Tarts for breakfast, used hair spray, sat next to someone who was smoking, rode in the beds of trucks, drank from the garden hose, didn't wear safety helmets...the list is endless and useless.

So, to the scientists and researchers of the breast cancer world, I say this - Don't tell me how I got cancer. Tell me you have a cure so my daughter, my son, my nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends never have to go through this miserable disease themselves.

floaton

Jennie, your post makes me wish bco had a "like" button .  

lisa137

*Applauding Jennie's post*

edwards750

Thank you Jennie...your post nailed it. I am sick of all the dos and donts too. Blah, Blah, blah. I read several articles from MD Anderson and Mayo Clinic, facilities we can all agree have pretty good reputations, in which they said the hype about NO sugar or else is blown out of proportion. There are posters who vehemently disagree and contend NO sugar will prevent a recurrence and that of course is their right to believe that. I don't. I think it is totally a crap shoot too and we just got unlucky draws. Not saying at all we shouldn't take note of what we eat and drink but total abstinence...not happening for me.

Diane

JennieTinMaine

Thanks, ladies.  Yahoo News posted one study too many for my last nerve to handle, I guess.

MelissaDallas

What the news trumpets studies saying and what they REALLY say is often quite different, and there was a very weak correlation. Studies that depend on self-reporting are some of the least reliable too.. 

SpecialK

jennie - your post is both hilarious, and totally right on the button!

mary625

Thanks, Jennie, for the refreshing post.  

When I think of what my mother and father did to their bodies in terms of food consumption and lack of exercise and neither got cancer, both living well into their 80's...well, I can't explain all of the emotions.  

cp418

Jennie - Thank you!  I don't care what caused my breast cancer - I can't do a bleeping thing about it.  However, the multi-billion $ pharma / biotech companies have the resources and money to find ways to treat us so we don't die from it or more toxic chemical treatments.

Mary625 - EXACTLY!  Both parents ate bacon, traditional red meat and potatoes diets, minimal exercise, etc.  Both lived into LATE 80's.

heartnsoul76

We're just the unlucky ones.  The only thing I have to deprive myself of (and I suppose most of us do) is estrogen and that's painful.

Did you see the latest?  If you have a lot of moles you're more likely to get breast cancer! 

Leah_S

I just go nuts on these retrospective studies that "prove" something is a risk factor. There's no way to know what other risk factors are present in this kind of study or how accurate the reporting is.

I must give a tremendous thank you to Voracious Reader and Heartnsoul. You have given me the secret of longevity - a bowl of ice cream every night! I'm going to start that regimen immediately, no matter how hard it is. 

VR, are you sure you're doing OK? No lightheadedness? No dizziness? WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU THINKING OF, CUTTING BACK ON YOUR CONSUMPTION OF BOOKS???????????? I sincerely hope that is a passing moment of temporary insanity.

Leah who has many moles.

voraciousreader

Leah...I really do need to cut down on my consumption of books!  I'm not about to hold any records with respect to concurrently reading books, because author Joe Queenan holds THAT record with reading 80 books at a time.  However, I'm currently reading 4 books right now and I'm growing a little nervous!  Among the books include my favorite author, Geoff Dyer, whose publisher just published 3 books of his at one time!  I'm finishing the third, while reading Three Squares...The Invention of the American Meal and a book written by a friend who inscribed a copy for me and also told me Jennifer Lopez will be starring on NBC in a series based on the book, Shades of Blue AND I'm also reading A Short History of the Twentieth Century...with emphasis on the word "Short" since it's all of 200 pages long!

Reading Three Squares, I find the American diet described in the book fascinating.  I've read other historical books about the American diet and cuisine.  What is interesting to note is that the eating patterns of meals are a recent invention.

cp418

VR - your incredible speed reading ability and diverse reading material never ceases to amaze me!!  Now you have me curious about this American diet one. 

heartnsoul76

Haha, Leah.  Yes, I think I'm going to go on the ice cream, red meat and alcohol breast cancer prevention diet!  Probably as good as any other… 

carol57

I so appreciate the posts in this thread!  Living life looking over your shoulder can sure take some of the life out of your life.  I saw a study summary the other day that quite seriously pointed at 'toxic dust bunnies' as posing BC risk.  When I found the actual study and read it, there was a correlation between higher BC risk and certain chemicals commonly found in household dust, but the term 'dust bunny' is nowhere to be found. Phew...glad I don't have to call in a hazmat team to clean out the back of my closet!  

wallycat

Carol57...wow, you have figured out why I got cancer!!!!

As I posted...crapshoot.

My dad smoked for 50 years and died at 2 months shy of 88, lived through hitler and 2 world wars --and I shudder to think what their diets were like, never mind he is of Jewish decent.  

My sister eats ice cream and fat and processed carbs (she's my twin) and is just fine, thank you very much.  Gotta love it.

If I believed in a higher power, I would have to say...be careful what you wish for...you make plans, god laughs. 

voraciousreader

cp...Stop reading some of those journal articles and make time instead for pleasure reading! I spend only a few minutes each day in the morning reading abstracts and health articles.  They tend to make my blood pressure go up!  They are very bad for your health and sanity!  I knew I had to cut back on my fix of reading journal articles when one of the DH's doctors asked ME if I had read any provocative studies lately.  Wasn't he the one who should have been doing the reading????  

Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with these types of studies.  Maybe one day they will be able to glean some bit of information that may unlock the mystery to why people are susceptible to diseases.  Then maybe they can discover an antidote.  I recently read a terrific book, The Remedy.  Written by the former Editor-in Chief of the distinguished magazine Wired, the book gives readers an historical perspective of how Tuberculosis became defined as Tuberculosis to how it was understood to be a communicable illness to finding a cure. Making each leap was a giant step...not unlike the moon landing.  I saw many parallels to the breast cancer movement.  What we perceive as small steps in this movement to find preventions, treatments and cures is not unlike the other important milestones made in medicine.  The Remedy drives home the point of how discovery does not take place in a vacuum.  It is very messy and occurs over a long distance of time.

cp418

VR - I hear you!    Honestly - I scan and post articles sent to my email.  I only read journals when I am specifically seeking information to discuss with my dr.  Ha Ha - Drs tell me they don't have time to research and read so when I bring them information they appreciate it.  I read fiction for pure escape and fun - currently reading the Bristol House.  I had to put down the Toms River novel based upon the Ciba Geigy pollution lawsuits (like Erin Brockovich) .  After reading a few chapters it was raising my BP so I set it aside for now.  I prefer to enjoy the summer when this rain stops.... 

voraciousreader

cp....I am loving the rain!!! It gives me a great excuse to sit at home and read!!! Yay!!!!

AlaskaAngel

We are all so annoyed that we got cancer in the first place, and don't want all the extra barriers to pleasure that can come with it.

I get annoyed too... although the intent and info does help. Studies like this continue to demonstrate that it is the type of fat one eats, how much of it one eats, and the method of cooking it that is meaningful. Whether we like the message or not.