Red meat consumption should be limited

Emma Bloomfield, For the Review

The International Agency of Research on Cancer released new information recently saying that red and processed meats can lead to cancer.

The World Health Organization announced that it has found that eating a lot of processed meat such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and ham can cause cancer.

Eating too much beef, pork, lamb, and other meat from mammals can also probably cause cancer as well.

The IARC classified the consumption of processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” and consumption of red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The IARC has not evaluated the cancer risk, only the hazard.

The case was re-opened to review pre-existing research to determine the potential causes and evaluate the risk of cancer.

It may seem strange to think of red and processed meat as causing cancer because Americans eat so much of it.

Because of this it is hard to imagine such a well known food could cause such a serious illness.

As a person who has never been a fan of red meats, cutting that out may be easier than processed meats.

Lunch meats, bacon and sausages will all have to be cut out since those are the ones that have actually been proven to cause cancer.

Having a clean bill of health sounds better than bacon.

Although mainly classified as a cause for colorectal cancer, red meat was also seen to cause pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

Processed meat was said to be carcinogenic to humans based on evidence that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

The proteins that are formed during cooking red meats is the part that is carcinogenic.
The IARC recommends to use medium to low heat when cooking red meat.

High heat can overcook or char the outside of the meat. If the meat gets charred do not eat the charred bits.

Cooking meats at lower temperatures can reduce this risk of these problems, but there is still the hazard from the processed meats.

Meat provides the majority of protein intake but it can be substituted by heathier meats, nuts, seeds, dairy and vegetables.

This isn’t the end of the world, although it may seem like that to some people.

Overall, red meat consumption should be reduced because before this statement was released, eating it had been linked to heart disease, and higher cholesterol levels. Also, processed meats contain unnecessary additives that have been proven to harm our bodies.

Before this people used think that the correlation between smoking and lung cancer was hard to believe, but attitudes changed over time. Maybe the public’s attitudes will similarly change towards heavy meat-eating.

The most important factors to focus on is maintaining a healthy body weight, taking care of yourself and staying physically active.