Red meat reduces colon cancer by 34%

This study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2004 Nov 15;160(10):1011-22

Study title and authors:

Dietary fat and fatty acids and risk of colorectal cancer in women.

Lin J, Zhang SM, Cook NR, Lee IM, Buring JE.

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. jhlin@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15522858

Dr. Jennifer Lin, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, examined the association of intakes of different types of fat with the risk of colon cancer. She and her colleagues analyzed the diets of 37,547 women over 8.7 years.

Dr. Lin found:

• Women who consumed the most saturated fat had an 8% reduced incidence of colon cancer compared to the women who ate the least.
• Women who consumed the most cholesterol had a 21% reduced incidence of colon cancer compared to the women who ate the least.
• Women who consumed the most red meat had a 34% reduced incidence of colon cancer compared to the women who ate the least.
• Women who consumed the most vegetable fat had a 21% increased incidence of colon cancer compared to the women who ate the least.

This study shows that dietary cholesterol, animal fats and red meat give protection from colon cancer, whereas vegetable fats (margarine, sunflower oil etc.) increase the risk of colon cancer.