Just Say No to Dead Cattle

When did you last eat a hamburger? Or bit of red meat for that matter? I'm proud to say I was 18 years old, though I'm not so proud to divulge the name of the restaurant I consumed it in.

Proud, because recently published scientific research indicates that young women shouldn't be eating red meat regularly. In fact the researchers found that, "Greater red meat intake was strongly related to elevated risk of breast cancers that were estrogen and progesterone receptor positive. . ."

According to Rob Stein, of the Washington Post:

“The study of more than 90,000 women found that the more red meat the women consumed in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the greater their risk for developing breast cancer fueled by hormones in the next 12 years. Those who consumed the most red meat had nearly twice the risk of those who ate red meat infrequently.”

. . .

“Why red meat might increase the risk for breast cancer remains unknown, but previous research has suggested several possible reasons: Substances produced by cooking meat may be carcinogenic, naturally occurring substances in meat may mimic the action of hormones, or growth hormones that farmers feed cows could fuel breast cancer in women who consume meat from the animals.”

Here is the original study information, in case the link changes, which seems to happen with some of those pesky on-line medical journals, for whatever reason:

Red Meat Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer Among Premenopausal Women

Eunyoung Cho, ScD; Wendy Y. Chen, MD, MPH; David J. Hunter, MB, BS, ScD; Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH; Susan E. Hankinson, ScD; Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH

Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:2253-2259.