Will Eating Red Meat Kill You?

Lately, I have made a lot of changes with the way I eat and take care of myself. I pay a lot more attention to detail about a number of things and I have read a whole bunch more about nutrition and health and cancer and so on.

Since we have been discussing the red meat thing here, I thought I would offer this for discussion. Much of what has been working for me goes against the grain and conventional wisdom. No doubt I am leaner, stronger and healthier with my newer nutrition plan and guidelines, but I eat red meat and I love it.

One of the sites I visit frequently offered this today and so I am forwarding it to you folks as food for thought and discussion.

www.marksdailyapple.com/will-eating-red-meat-kill-you/#more-27840


Sonny

A: No, not like getting hit by a Mack truck will kill you....

Unless someone drops a cow on you.

But seriously, eating an improperly balanced vegan or vegetarian diet over time will kill you too. Folks the keyword is moderation. Red meat does raise risk factors and as Casey said, it does not mean that red meat will kill you. Risk factors are only risk factors. 2/3 of cigarette smokers won't die of a smoking related death. But today, smoking is still the #1 controllable cancer risk factor and we have no problem finding cases that it did wreak havoc on a person's health. I would say don't smoke but I would not say don't eat red meat. These are not comparable risk factors like many would suggest. If you eat Red Meat ~ moderate, start with the veggies first to quell the appetite urges. But also exercise, watch your weight, reduce stress, drink water.

But you're still gonna die from something...

Tony

Hi Sonny,
Moderation is the keyword. Red meat from regular cattle production (fed with grain versus free range) is higher in arachidonic acid which is a fatty acid known to promote cancer growth(not only PCa by the way) and other forms of disease.

It is difficult to prove that eating red meat will kill you so that those that support the eating of vast quantities of red meat are safe in promoting its safety. Eating red meat will not kill you if you eat a balanced diet rich in omega 3 oils to counter the bad influence of omega 6 oils.

The bad actor in red meat is arachidonic acid and its metabolites (hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETE)) These can inhibit apoptosis, promore cancer cell invasion thereby helping expand tumor mass, stimulate angiogenesis, and induce production and secretion of proteolytic enzymes, which are essential for passage of tumor cells through basement membranes. In simpler words these are bad actors for any patient harboring prostate cancer.

1: Amirian ES, Ittmann MM, Scheurer ME. Associations between arachidonic acid
metabolism gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk. Prostate. 2011 Sep
15;71(13):1382-9. doi: 10.1002/pros.21354. Epub 2011 Feb 9. PubMed PMID:
21308720.


2: Chavarro JE, Stampfer MJ, Li H, Campos H, Kurth T, Ma J. A prospective study
of polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in blood and prostate cancer risk. Cancer
Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Jul;16(7):1364-70. Epub 2007 Jun 21. PubMed PMID:
17585059.


3: Ritch CR, Wan RL, Stephens LB, Taxy JB, Huo D, Gong EM, Zagaja GP, Brendler
CB. Dietary fatty acids correlate with prostate cancer biopsy grade and volume in
Jamaican men. J Urol. 2007 Jan;177(1):97-101; discussion 101. PubMed PMID:
17162011.


4: Freeman VL, Meydani M, Hur K, Flanigan RC. Inverse association between
prostatic polyunsaturated fatty acid and risk of locally advanced prostate
carcinoma. Cancer. 2004 Dec 15;101(12):2744-54. PubMed PMID: 15495177.


5: Matsuyama M, Yoshimura R, Mitsuhashi M, Hase T, Tsuchida K, Takemoto Y,
Kawahito Y, Sano H, Nakatani T. Expression of lipoxygenase in human prostate
cancer and growth reduction by its inhibitors. Int J Oncol. 2004 Apr;24(4):821-7.
PubMed PMID: 15010818.


6: Gupta S, Srivastava M, Ahmad N, Sakamoto K, Bostwick DG, Mukhtar H.
Lipoxygenase-5 is overexpressed in prostate adenocarcinoma. Cancer. 2001 Feb
15;91(4):737-43. PubMed PMID: 11241241.

This is not to say that you should not enjoy red meat at all. Moderation and variety are important. Wish you the very best in your fight against PCa.

RalphV

Ralph,
You'll like that presentation I posted. Have a look...

Tony

i eat red meat but i have cut back.  actually i cut back years ago but am less careful when i'm eating poorly.  i am also fatter and lazier when i'm eating poorly.

i do know if you don't watch what you eat and you don't exercise you have a good chance of being obese unless you have a skinny gene or a tapeworm .

ed

 

Thanks for the link Tony. I have the book by Dr. Servan-Schreiber which is full of good information on how to survive cancer after applying the appropriate evidence based medicinal therapies. He survived brain cancer for 20 years.

RalphV

This was sent to me just a few moments ago...on topic...from Harvard...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud7RkxtO3-Y&feature=youtu.be

Tony

Will eating a lot of red meat kill you?

Well it did in my family, I believe. Both my grandparents on my fathers side were german decent and they ate beef or pork at almost every single meal, and both died of colon cancer in thier early 70s. My father was also a heavy meat eater, and guess what, he also died of colon cancer at 64. My grandparents on my mother's side, ate very little meat because of different cultural upbring, they ate mostly fish, chicken and a lot of vegatables, they both lived into thier eary 90's. Was the difference in life span because of red meat or just genetics? Who knows, but since I was in my late 20s ( I am 60 now), I stopped eating all beef and pork, and I only eat chicken and a lot of fish.

ugh

sequ....

Good point. Portion is a major part of the American obesity syndrome. And the resturants are more than eager to promote over-eating and "super sizing". And they wouldn't be doing that, if they didn't have a steady market of over eaters.

I rarely eat steak, but when I do, it's lean cuts, not fatty and tasty - i.e. rib eye And I will often get the smallest size on the menu, which often is a 6 oz sirloin cut. Never liked fat, so if there is any present, it gets cut away and not eaten. I am amazed at both men or women, that can polish off a 16 oz steak by themselves.

When we buy hamburger, again not often, we go for the 93-96% lean type, or ground sirloin. Cooked up, doesn't hardly produce any grease in the pan, so must be pretty lean.

Moderation means different things to different people, but that is how I personal control my intake of red meats. I feel no guilt in the little bit that I injest, it still tastes good, and gives me something to look forward to.

david