Sunday, January 27, 2013

Cheese Burgers Fight Cancer - Yeah Right!

I went into a burger store yesterday, only to find them hanging this cut magazine article beautifully framed on their wall!






At first, you would be like YEY! But NO.

So what the writers of this article did is:
  • They linked a study that showed that Menaquinone, a type of vitamin K, can aid the body in preventing tumor development and decrease 28 % of cancer mortality. 
  • Then they continued to suggest that since menaquinone is found in red meat (as well as frankfurters, salami, pepperoni, pork meat, cream cheese, chicken, corndogs, KFC chicken and so forth)
    >> THEN consequently your burger is "your weapon of choice" against cancer!
  • They continue to advise that you can have their lovely red wine to help 'steer' your body against cancer
These simply are incomplete scientific facts.

It's like suggesting that because chocolate contains cocoa [which has antioxidant capacity] then you can go for chocolate to fight off unwanted cell mutations and cancer!

So let's state some "Red meat VS. Cancer" updates:
And yet the meat industry, particularly Janet Riley from the American Meat Institute, suggests that all these studies are just "statistical noise". The "Meat and Livestock Association" also believe that all this fuss about meat is unnecessary. It's weird how consistent this noise seems to be! 

Of course, adapting an unhealthy lifestyle is a major factor in cancer and premature death risk. Having a "Western" lifestyle, junk food, processed food, refined sugar, high intake of alcohol, low intake of fruits, veggies and fiber along with detrimental behavioral factors like low physical activity, smoking and obesity will definitely affect your cancer risk.

Bottom Line: 

Swapping red meat with another source of protein is best advised to reduce your risk of early death - Cancer Research UK! You can check here what the American Cancer Society advises to cut down your cancer risk for red meat is ONE factor among many - but still a controllable & changeable risk factor for that matter given that 43 % of deaths associated with red meat can be prevented by cutting it down!
If you wish to have your red meat burger once in a while, make sure the meat is not fried, even pan-fried, nor chargrilled. Broiling, baking or poaching meats is the safest!

So, having more red-meat free days is a must! Have plant based protein sources like beans, legumes, & nuts as well as fish, chicken and low fat dairy would still be a better bet for you than any red meat [beef, pork, lamb] and processed meat! - Harvard Health Publications


5 comments:

  1. Fat guy who really needs to lose some weight, like really.February 4, 2013 at 10:48 PM

    ahhh...so that's why i don't have cancer (yet), I'm eating Quinoa Burgers...

    now what burger where "you" eating before taking that picture? :-p

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  2. Hehe well as I said meat is just one controllable important risk factor but not the only one. Actually, cancer is still too complicated for researcher, but why not mofidy what we can? And I was actually having a quinoa/bean burger :p

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  3. Fat guy who really needs to lose some weight, like really.February 6, 2013 at 6:17 PM

    hehe ;-) sahtein and thanks for this article. Interesting blog!

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  4. I am eating meat only 1 time per week now. I used to eat everyday. I will try to decrease it and change it to plant sources. I like how you write it it is fun + scientific good job

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    1. Thank you Gilberta!
      Exactly, if you already have meat everyday, try to vary your protein sources as a start. You can go for 2 days of meat (chicken or beef) and the rest varied between legumes, fish and vegetarian dishes. Should be OK to vary different protein sources and gradually decrease meat intake.

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