Happy Canuk
08-17-2006, 01:21 AM
** The Dangerous Ingredient in Processed Meat
--by Jeff Jurmain, MA
When the article's topic is processed meat and the study is
from the International Journal of Cancer, it should be of no
surprise that the news isn't good. Well, at least for those
people who love packaged meat sandwiches, that is.
There is a rising tide of evidence that is starting to paint a
clear picture that your risk of getting stomach cancer will
increase if your diet includes healthy doses of salami, hot
dogs, and other processed meats. The salt levels are bad
enough and so is the saturated fat. According to a group of
Swedish researchers, hidden ingredients -- not put there on
purpose, but as a natural by-product from the processing of
meat -- might be responsible for this link to cancer. They
are called "nitrosamines."
Their study included more than 61,000 women. In them,
they measured the risk of stomach cancer related to how
much processed meat they ate, how much unprocessed red
meat, and how much fish or poultry. So we know what's
what here, the processed meats included bacon/pork,
sausage/hotdogs, and ham/salami. The unprocessed meats
included hamburgers, meatballs, and meatloaf. They
charted the women's dietary habits for three years, ending
in 1990, and they checked in again with the participants in
1997.
In those 18 years, 156 people developed stomach cancer (as
you can see this is a very low percentage). The only meat-
related link to stomach cancer came with processed meat,
and it was a statistically significant link. The other types of
meat were in the clear. Women who ate three or more
servings of processed meat a week had a 66% higher risk of
developing stomach cancer than those who ate fewer than
1.5 servings a week.
The culprit may be nitrosamines. Researchers found the
cancer risk was twice as high for women who had the
highest levels of this substance in their bodies, which was
found in high levels within processed meat, as opposed to
the women who didn't consume it. Three servings a week
is not much when you consider how many people have a
processed-meat sandwich for lunch every day. The
researchers suggest that switching from processed meat to
poultry or fish can reduce your risk considerably.
This news builds on a study from last year that found
people who eat a lot of processed meat can raise their risk
of pancreatic cancer by up to 70%. The researchers then
said that meat-preparation techniques might be causing
some cancerous substances to leach into the food. They
identify charcoal barbecue, broiling, and any meat
preservation that involves nitrates as being potentially
harmful. Nitrates are another batch of hidden ingredients
within processed meat -- which are better known for their
use in fertilizer -- that have been implicated in cancer cases
for years. In 2004, nearly 32,000 people in the U.S.
developed pancreatic cancer.
Sources:
Nöthlings, U., "Meat and fat intake as risk factors for
pancreatic cancer: the multiethnic cohort study," Journal of
the National Cancer Institute. 2005;97:1458-1465.
Larsson, SC, et al., "Processed meat consumption and
stomach cancer risk," International Journal of Cancer. 2006
Aug 2;98(15):1078-87.
--by Jeff Jurmain, MA
When the article's topic is processed meat and the study is
from the International Journal of Cancer, it should be of no
surprise that the news isn't good. Well, at least for those
people who love packaged meat sandwiches, that is.
There is a rising tide of evidence that is starting to paint a
clear picture that your risk of getting stomach cancer will
increase if your diet includes healthy doses of salami, hot
dogs, and other processed meats. The salt levels are bad
enough and so is the saturated fat. According to a group of
Swedish researchers, hidden ingredients -- not put there on
purpose, but as a natural by-product from the processing of
meat -- might be responsible for this link to cancer. They
are called "nitrosamines."
Their study included more than 61,000 women. In them,
they measured the risk of stomach cancer related to how
much processed meat they ate, how much unprocessed red
meat, and how much fish or poultry. So we know what's
what here, the processed meats included bacon/pork,
sausage/hotdogs, and ham/salami. The unprocessed meats
included hamburgers, meatballs, and meatloaf. They
charted the women's dietary habits for three years, ending
in 1990, and they checked in again with the participants in
1997.
In those 18 years, 156 people developed stomach cancer (as
you can see this is a very low percentage). The only meat-
related link to stomach cancer came with processed meat,
and it was a statistically significant link. The other types of
meat were in the clear. Women who ate three or more
servings of processed meat a week had a 66% higher risk of
developing stomach cancer than those who ate fewer than
1.5 servings a week.
The culprit may be nitrosamines. Researchers found the
cancer risk was twice as high for women who had the
highest levels of this substance in their bodies, which was
found in high levels within processed meat, as opposed to
the women who didn't consume it. Three servings a week
is not much when you consider how many people have a
processed-meat sandwich for lunch every day. The
researchers suggest that switching from processed meat to
poultry or fish can reduce your risk considerably.
This news builds on a study from last year that found
people who eat a lot of processed meat can raise their risk
of pancreatic cancer by up to 70%. The researchers then
said that meat-preparation techniques might be causing
some cancerous substances to leach into the food. They
identify charcoal barbecue, broiling, and any meat
preservation that involves nitrates as being potentially
harmful. Nitrates are another batch of hidden ingredients
within processed meat -- which are better known for their
use in fertilizer -- that have been implicated in cancer cases
for years. In 2004, nearly 32,000 people in the U.S.
developed pancreatic cancer.
Sources:
Nöthlings, U., "Meat and fat intake as risk factors for
pancreatic cancer: the multiethnic cohort study," Journal of
the National Cancer Institute. 2005;97:1458-1465.
Larsson, SC, et al., "Processed meat consumption and
stomach cancer risk," International Journal of Cancer. 2006
Aug 2;98(15):1078-87.