Lab Studies Associating Cancer With Eating Red Meat May Be Flawed

Recent studies associating the consumption of red and processed meat with a higher risk of colon cancer should be taken with a grain of salt, according to a paper published by 23 scientists. Much of the data were collected from studies in which animals ate large amounts of red meat without a balance of vegetables, fiber, milk or other sources of calcium. These other foods, cooperating with the bacteria that live in the gut, may actually protect the gut from cancer. Meat contains nutritionally beneficial compounds that are not carcinogenic, the researchers concluded, but when consumed in very high amounts may result in an imbalanced diet and thereby increase the risk of developing [colorectal cancer].”