Red meat. Friend or foe?

At times the interweb seems to be rife with click-bait articles linking meat – and in particular red meat – with an increased risk of cancer. While there is truth to this, there’s also often a strong Daily Mail undertone (“If you Eat/Drink/Do/Breath/Think about this then you WILL die!") to it all. So what does the evidence show?

Red meat – what it is

Starting off with the basics, red meat is any meat, or processed meat (such as salami) consisting of the following:

·       beef

·       lamb

·       pork

·       veal

·       venison

·       goat

What’s the concern?

A large number of studies have linked red meat to a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Several of these studies have been large and longitudinal in design (ie. lasted several years), including a Nurses’ Health Study in the US which followed 88,751 women over 6 years. More than half of colorectal cases occur in more developed, highly industrialized countries where red meat consumption tends to be high.

So while there is a great deal of strong evidence linking high consumption of red meat with an increased risk of cancer, the link (at present anyway) is specific to colorectal cancer.

Is there anything to say in defence of red meat?

Aside from protein, red meat is a great source of many vitamins and minerals - iron and zinc in particular. And in fact – the high-quality iron in red meat (with a high bioavailability) is a large part of the reason why the topic can prove controversial.

Iron is the world’s largest micronutrient deficiency, affecting an estimated 2 billion people worldwide. Disproportionally affecting women, iron-deficiency anaemia has a significant impact on foetal development, life quality, and economic productivity. To channel Susie Orbach, iron, as much as fat, is a feminist issue.

So what’s the official guidance?

In 2011 SACN (the expert bods advising the government on all things nutrition) published a report on Iron and Health, where they concluded that eating red and processed meat probably increases the risk of bowel cancer.

Although we don’t yet know at exactly what level of red meat consumption the risk of bowel/colon cancer is increased, they recommended that those eating 90g of red meat or more a day look to reduce their consumption to 70g a day.

This is in line with the World Cancer Research Fund whose 2007 report advised people to eat no more than 500g of red meat per week (that’s around 70g a day).

Great – but I have no idea what 70g of red meat looks like?

Well, quite. To give you an idea of what the following foods (when cooked) weigh in at, here are a few common examples:

1 slice of ham = 23g

1 quarter pounder beef-burger = 73g

A portion of Sunday roast (three thin-cut slices of roast lamb, beef or pork) = 90g

1 5oz rump steak = 102g

Ok, but is it friend or foe?

As with many things in nutrition, it’s not the food itself, but the amount we eat of it that we should be focussing on.

In moderation, red meat can be an easy way to obtain many essential vitamins and minerals – in particular iron which may of us are deficient in. And that’s before you even take into account the immense enjoyment the occasional Sunday fry-up or Roast can bring to the carnivores of the world.

So if never eating bacon with your Sunday breakfast again would leave you feeling like the world is a darker place, don’t feel you need to cut it out completely.

But perhaps just bear in mind that as with most enjoyable activities in life, eating red meat shouldn’t be done to excess. And remember that red meat is not the only source of iron. Brown rice, eggs, beans, and other leaner cuts of meat like chicken and turkey are all good alternative sources of iron. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of red meat you eat, perhaps aim for a couple of meat free days each week, or swap one of your weekly portions of red meat for a fish dinner instead.

And finally...

Find a summary of iron – what it is, does, and how much we need – here on the A to V. The seared coriander beef recipe has proved a winner with meat-eaters, but as mentioned above there are a number of other ways to get enough iron in your diet that don’t have to involve red meat. Take a look at the jewelled brown rice and chickpea curry recipes for some plant based ideas.

References

http://www.sacn.gov.uk/pdfs/sacn_iron_and_health_report_web.pdf

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/red-meat.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4698595/