Red meat no longer a breast cancer risk?

An editorial in The American Journal of Clincal Nutrition suggests that large scale studies on diet and cancer show little to no link between eating red meat and breast cancer in women who are past adolescence. The study did caution that the degree and heat used to cook the meat was not taken into account, since burning of meat, or any food, is currently considered to be a "no-no" when it comes to cancer. Put the grills on low, or away.

Of course, the whole problem with cancer in epidemiology is that it is hard to study the effect of food for more than a 10-20 year period, since there are so many other factors that can be taking place. People are bad lab animals in other words. You can't isolate them and control for single factors, and so the cancer link is always a challenge which is what leads to all the mixed news.

At the end of the editorial the authors did still urge that red meat intake be limited, citing increased risk to heart disease and cancer. Sage advice, though it goes without saying that almost any food should be limited.