A 20 year study was conducted among 89,000 women suggesting that eating too much red meat could increase the risk of having breast cancer by about 25 percent.

On the other hand, researchers said that replacing red meat intake by combining legumes, poultry, fish and nuts could lower the risk of incurring the disease among women by 14 percent.

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Lead researcher Dr. Maryan Farvid from the Harvard School of Public Health, nutrition department said that cutting down on eating too much processed meat and red meat and substituting it with a combination of legumes, nuts, fish and poultry during early adulthood could be beneficial to prevent breast cancer.

Farvid also said that women who ate only one serving of meat per week could have lower chances of getting breast cancer compared to those having 1.5 servings a day which could increase their risk by 22 percent. She also added that each added serve of red meat on a daily basis seemed to put a higher risk for breast cancer by another 13 percent.

The researchers noted that eating more poultry, on the other hand, decreased the risk of incurring breast cancer. The researchers found out that consuming one serving of poultry instead of eating one serving of red meat daily could lower the risk by 17 percent among women and 24 percent among those who are on their postmenopausal stages.

However, because the research is an observational study, Farvid said that it does not mean that the more red meat you eat, the more you increase your risk to breast cancer. She also added that the link between red meat and breast cancer have not been proven clear.

The report was published on the British Medical Journal online last June 10.

Farvid said that red meat can increase the risk of having breast cancer among women in many ways including high cooking temperature wherein byproducts are created. She said that another possibility of increasing the risk to breast cancer is the hormones used to increase cattle growth. Furthermore, Farvid said that preservatives including nitrite and nitrate found in preserved meat can also be linked in increasing breast cancer risks.

The researchers for the study collected data from about 89,000 women aged 26 to 45. These women took part in the Nurses’ Health Study II wherein they answered several questionnaires in the year 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003 up to 2007.

These women were questioned regarding their daily red meat consumption including pork, hamburger, beef and lamb. They were also asked about their processed red meat intake including bacon, sausages and hotdogs.

In the study, the women were also asked regarding their daily poultry products intake, fish and legumes consumption. The respondents’ answers were ranked from "never or less than once per month" to "six or more per day."

The study showed that after more than 20 years of follow up to their respondents, 2,830 among the women developed breast cancer.

The participants took notes regarding the diets of the respondents during their teenage years. This was done to help the researchers determine the role of red meat consumption in developing breast cancer.

The group also took note of factors including breast cancer history among family members of the respondents, race, height, weight and breast disease benign history. Furthermore, Farvid’s group also took note of smoking habits, oral and hormone contraceptive use and the status of those who are at menopausal stages.

Yale University Prevention Research Center director David Katz said that the study is highly useful in translating the findings regarding the link between red meat consumption and increasing breast cancer risk. He said that the study also translates the findings into actionable, specific and offered strategies that would help decrease the risks of incurring the disease.

Katz also said that it is enough to know that substituting red meat consumption with poultry, fish or legumes has the possibility to decrease the risk of having breast cancer by relatively 15 to 20 percent.

However, not everyone agreed on the findings and said that it was not conclusive.
New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital chief of surgical oncology Dr. Stephanie Bernik said that the paper was not definitive.

Bernik said that women who consumed less red meat could have a healthier lifestyle than those who consume large amounts. She said that this is the reason behind decreasing their risk of breast cancer. Furthermore, she said that the elevated risk associated to eating red meat could only be among the unhealthy behavior of a person.

Dr. Bernik said that a healthy lifestyle could decrease a person’s chance of incurring any types of cancer. She also noted that huge amounts of red meat consumption can be associated to increasing other cancer risks such as prostate and colon cancer.

The American Meat Institute declined to comment regarding the study, reported HealthDay.

Tagsred meat, breast cancer, British Medical Journal, Dr. Maryan Farvid, Professor Tim Key, Professor Valerie Beral