1er May 2007- Postmenopausal women who consume red meat daily are more likely to develop breast cancer than those who do not eat it at all. These observations come from a large study conducted in the UK1 with 33,725 women2.
Postmenopausal participants who ate 57 g or more of red meat per day were 56% more likely to develop breast cancer, compared to those who ate none at all. Among red meat consumers, there would therefore have been 23 cases of breast cancer per 1,000 women, compared to 16, for those who did not eat it.
A link has also been established between cases of breast cancer in women who were not in menopause and their meat consumption. Compared to vegetarians, those who had a total daily meat consumption of 103 g and more had a 20% greater risk of developing breast cancer.
In total, 1.7% of vegetarian women, postmenopausal or not, have had breast cancer. This proportion climbs to 2.2% among those who ate more than 103 g per day of meat.
The study’s authors hypothesize that the breast cancers detected in the participants could be in part caused by the saturated fats found in meat.
Marie france Coutu – PasseportSanté.net
According to CBC, CNN and MSNBC.
1. Taylor EF, Burley VJ, et al. Meat consumption and risk of breast cancer in the UK Women Cohort StudyBrit J Cancer, 2007, April 9; 96 (7): 1139-1146.
2. The women ranged from 35 to 69 years old. Data on their diet were collected between 1995 and 1998. Eight years later, in 2004, breast cancer was detected in 678 of them. The authors wanted to verify if there was a link between this cancer and the consumption of four types of meat: beef, poultry, offal (tripe and other viscera) and processed meats (bacon, sausages and cold cuts). They also considered pork and lamb when estimating total meat consumption.
