Meat or Veg?

A study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, finds that a “western” diet - characterized by red meat, starches and sweets – raises the risk for breast cancer among postmenopausal Chinese women. This is the first time a specific association between a western diet and breast cancer has been identified in Asian women. Women from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, 25 to 64 years of age, were newly-diagnosed with breast cancer. Controls were selected from permanent residents in urban Shanghai. The researchers obtained information on diet and lifestyle to classify the women in the study as either meat-sweet or vegetable-soy eaters. The meat-sweet diet was characterized by various meats, primarily pork but also poultry, organ meats, beef and lamb, and shrimp, saltwater fish, and shellfish, as well as candy, dessert, bread, and milk. The vegetable-soy pattern was associated with various vegetables, soy-based products, and freshwater fish.
An association between a western-style diet and breast cancer was pronounced in the postmenopausal women, especially in heavier women with estrogen receptor-positive tumors. Such tumors are often associated with obesity. Specifically, high intake of the meat-sweet pattern was associated with a greater than twofold increased risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer among these women. There was no association of breast cancer risk with the vegetable-soy pattern of eating.

What does this mean for us non-Chinese? Maybe we should consider abandoning – or at least cutting back on – the western diet of meat several times a week, always followed by dessert. After all, a similar finding has been reported in women in Great Britain.

Comments

[Robert]

It would be nice to know how many people were involved in the study. Too often these types of studies are done with very small numbers of people, so you should question the accuracy of any results. Also, since this study was done in China, what about the influence of polluted food? The amount of chemicals and other pollutants that can often be found in foods in China (all the recent food scares from contaminates and banned substances found in a range of china products from toothpaste to dog food) could be a relevant influence on cancer causes.

[Robert Griffith]

Robert:
According to the abstract, there were about 1500 women in each group (veggie and meat groups) in the Chinese study. But the UK study, linked at the end of the piece, had a total of 35,000 women, and yielded similar findings. Maybe some toxins in the prepared foods eaten by the Chinese in the meat group, but I think the evidence is accumulating pointing the finger at meat.
Bob G.