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Why meat is cancer
2nd November 2007
On Monday it was World Psoriasis Day...
I was going to write all about it, with some good
information on how some experts believe vitamin D could
help you cope with the problem.
But I'm going to hold fire until next week.
Because on Wednesday something happened that almost
caused me to blow a gasket.
(Warning: the following are my strong personal opinions,
and sorry if they offend. But I believe this is a bit of
common sense you won't read in any of the papers.)
Meat! Cancer! Hysteria!Yes, there I was the other day, watching Channel 4 News,
when Jon Snow suddenly barks:
'Meat causes cancer it's official.'
A big photo of bacon flashed onto the screen with a red
line through it, as if it was a paedophile, or Hitler.
The story was that The World Cancer Research Fund
(WCRF) had just released a report, based on studies
dating back to the 1960s. They've been looking at
reasons for, and solutions to, the growing global obesity
crisis.
Fair enough. It's a huge (bad pun) problem.
Among the MANY conclusions in the report, there was
this...
Some scientists believe there is 'convincing' evidence that
red meat and processed meats such as ham, bacon,
salami and sausages increase the risk of colorectal
cancer.
But do you think the Channel 4 report concentrated on all
the other powerful obesity issues I've just mentioned?
Did they talk about all the contributing factors to cancer?
(You know... lack of exercise, environmental toxins,
sugary foods, booze consumption and general over
consumption, too much refined carbohydrates, poor
nutritional education, additives and other chemicals in
ready meals, fast food advertising.... I could go on....)
Did they focus on the weight issue? The environmental
issue? The sugar issue? The education issue? The toxins
issue? The binge drinking booze issue?
No. It was all about...
DANGER! Your sausage means DEATH! Run for the
hills. Your butcher is evil!I exagerrate, but that's what it felt like to me.
It all made for a dramatic editorial. But the hysterical
concentration on 'evil red meat' completely wiped out the
real issue.
Yet again, the big money producers of unnatural,
chemicalladen rubbish, packaged ready meals, peddlers
of cheap alcohol and the pushers of carbohydrates as a
'diet solution'... they all get away scot free.
Yes, it's the BACON wot did it!
Let me ask you...
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Do you really believe that the western world is getting fat and cancer-ridden simply because we eat too much red meat?In Australia, for instance, red meat consumption has been
falling for decades. It's down by 20% in the last 20 years.
Yet colon cancer rates in that country have increased.
Do you think in the past 30 years our society has been eating MORE red meat or less?The fact is low fat diets have been the norm since the 70s.
They typically cut out red and fatty meats, replacing
them with lots of chicken, fish, carbohydrates and
vegetables.
Millions - nay, BILLIONS - of people have been on these
diets for decades. And yet we're getting fatter. Cancer
rates are soaring.
So perhaps there's more to it? Wouldn't you say?
Or do you think that the western world is suffering for MANY complex reasons? These other factors are, namely.... and I'll repeat them:
Lack of exercise, environmental toxins, booze
consumption, sugary foods, over-consumption, refined
carbohydrates, poor nutritional education, additives and
other chemicals in ready meals, poverty, fast food
advertising...
Meat may be a contributing factor, among thousands. I'm
not about to contradict the details of the report.
But singling out bacon as some kind of cigarette you eat
with eggs, while all the other issues get squished, is just
plain scare-mongering.
Do you think that people who are clinically obese are simply eating too much meat?I've not seen a single documentary or read a single article
about an obese person whose problem is, quite simply,
that they have too much red meat in their diet.
First there are all the psychological, environmental and
hereditary considerations.
Secondly, while I assume there's meat involved in gaining
weight, I'd put a wager on the fact that it also involves eating
lots of bread, pasta, dairy, sugar, cakes, chocolate and
soft drinks.
Also, the basic ingredient of all weight gain: consuming
more than your body can burn as fuel.
What is the real issue here?What annoyed me even more was while Channel 4 tried to
ram the 'meat = cancer' panic down our throats, their
interviewees were being quite rational about it.
One of the experts behind the report pointed out that you
can still eat 500grams of red meat a week... that there
were health benefits involved in doing so...
...And that the REAL issue they were dealing with was the
rise in OBESITY and the cancer threat linked to obesity.
For instance, alcohol was another factor, but it barely got a
mention.
And while the report warned against booze, it also stated
that modest consumption was said to have a protective
benefit for heart disease.
Confusing? Contradictory? You betcha.
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The truth, in a BIG nutshellThe news reports are concentrating on the 'suspected'
link between cancer and overindulging in processed and
red meats.
By the way, these aren't new studies. There's been no
new scientific discovery here. This is a report based on 40
years of past studies.
Doesn't seem like such a shocker now, does it?
And what many of the hysterical reports miss out on
talking about is... well.... pretty much EVERYTHING
ELSE!
The problem is this: according to a government report
earlier this month, 60% of UK men, 50% of women and a
quarter of all children could be clinically obese by 2050.
So there has to be a reason for it, right?
Well, no, actually....
There has to be many, MANY complex reasons for it.
Issues that involve society, poverty, modern food
production, farming, the rise of supermarkets, popular
culture, advertising, and education.
It's a bit unfair to know all this and scream blue murder
about ham.
What a shame it would be if people who watched this
report went away thinking:
'I'd better not eat any fresh red meat for dinner today... I'll
have a frozen pizza instead.'
Shall we arrest the cows?The way I see it, the meat we've eaten and enjoyed for
centuries is being led away in a police car.
The real criminals are watching from the window, supping
their diet cola, laughing into their chicken nuggets.
Madness.
Yours as ever,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter |
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