Posted by kathryn in Health News

While I am vegetarian, it’s not a viewpoint I impose upon clients. It’s my personal choice, but it remains that – my choice, plus you have to know what you’re doing to be a healthy vegetarian.

However, I do believe most people, certainly here in Australia, would benefit from a few more meatless meals. There are strong health benefits to going meatless 2 – 3 times a week, with legumes in particular, associated with decreased cardiovascular disease, improved glucose tolerance and reduced risk of a number of other chronic diseases.

Research published last week shows a link between a high red meat intake in your 20s through to 40s and a particular group of breast cancers. Women who consumed more than 1.5 serves of red meat every day had almost double the risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers, compared to those who ate three or less serves per week. These cancers are stimulated by the levels of oestrogen and progesterone that circulate in the body.

“This study suggests that dietary factors may be related to a woman’s chance of developing this type of breast cancer, a disease that is on the rise in American women,” said lead author, Eunyoung Cho, Sc.D, researcher at BWH.

To date a number of studies have examined links between diet and breast cancer and so far results, for red meat, have been inconclusive. This study is interesting, however because it’s one of the first to look at womens’ diet in their 20s and onwards and possible associations with breast cancer. Previous studies into red meat intake and cancer risk have concentrated on diet in midlife or later. Moreover, most other studies have not differentiated between breast cancer types and relative diet risk.

So why not try going meatless two to three times per week? You could have some fish, or eggs or even try out some legumes. As reported on the ABC:

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Although Dr Cho concedes more research is needed to replicate the findings, she says the study provides some grounds for reconsidering the amount of red meat consumed.

“[There are] several reasons for women to reduce red meat intake – [it’s] also associated with increased risk of colon cancer so I believe our findings provide another reason for women to reduce their red meat intake,”

If you’re not used to going meatless, why not start with a risotto , a pasta with a quickie sauce , or a hearty soup like corn chowder and lentil&barley . Fritters are a gentle introduction to meatless food, or you could go out on a limb and make a fast and tasty tofu, asparagus and bok choy salad .

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, this research is based on women who were part of the Nurses’ Health Study II. This large-scale study charted the health, diet and lifestyle of over 90,000 women between 1989 and 2003.

• Original research abstract here and press release here .
• News reports from the Washington Post , the BBC and the ABC .
• Technorati tags: breast cancer , red meat , nurses health study , meatless meals .

20 November, 2006