Cut Out the Steak

I've decided to do something about my meat intake. It's actually more about bringing in fruits and vegetables than about cutting out meat. But my new plan is to have one day a week where I don't eat any meat, but when I saturate my diet with fruits and veggies.

Several things propel me toward this decision, and here's one of them: the mounting evidence that the intake of meat leads to cancer.

The Duke Medicine newsletter (Feb 2009) tells us "to reduce your risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer in Americans, decrease your intake of all meat, red meat, poultry and processed meat preserved by salting, smoking or adding nitrates.

"Scientists analyzed 13 case-control studies that examined the association between RCC and meat consumption. Eating all meat (defined as "total meat," or as a nonspecified type of meat) was associated with a 27 percent increased RCC risk, while red meat consumption had a 30 percent higher risk. Poultry and processed meat were also indicted, with a 20 to 22 percent increased greater risk of RCC in those consuming the greatest amount of poultry and processed meats compared to those consuming the least. The study appeared January 22 in Cancer Causes & Control."