Party hard. Veg hard.
Not cutting out toxins on the weekend just yet? Then cut them out of your food. A look at the science behind meat and cancer.
Hey party people. On new year’s eve I proposed an anti cancer new year’s resolution. So this post is the first in three parts that revolve around dietary changes to help you prevent cancer by using good old nature to supercharge your immune system to find and combat those cancer nasties. So if you fall into the 98% of people that didn’t make any new year’s resolutions to that end yet, no problem, January barely counts as a month anyway.
ps I just made my January contribution my Kids Cancer Project Gofundme. $2470 and counting! Please throw in a donation if you like this post :)
A few months ago I finally took the plunge and decided to go completely vegan. No it’s not a crusade and it’s certainly not a life time commitment (who can live without CHEESE or even the occasional medium rare t-bone! NOM NOM), but eating less meat is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. So much so that back in 2016 I successfully committed to 100 meat free days across the year. But due to my scrawny frame ended up going back to being a full-time meatarian, more out of laziness than anything else. Because what I’ve learned from my new vegan lifestyle is that #veganlife is pretty much as good as eating meat, there are just two key factors that must be overcome however.
But before we get into that, I can hear your burger-loving self SHOUTING “WHY!?”. Surely a bit of meat isn’t going to give me cancer. Well I am telling you now, that study after study is concluding that the links between meat consumption and cancer is indisputable. Now hold up, I’m not saying that eating meat by itself gives you cancer, but the type of meat and the frequency combined with other suboptimal lifestyle choices are definitely linked.
Reducing cancer risk from not eating meat basically works in two ways. It reduces the intake of components that promote cancer cell growth and then replaces it with highly cancer-fighting compounds in its place (fruits and vegetables). So nerds, let’s get into the facts.
The Science
I’m not just another vegan evangelist trying to take your steaks away. I actually love meat and will eat it again. But it’s important to understand some of the science and data behind why we are linking meat to cancer. Back in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared that processed meat is a definite cause of cancer and that red meat is a probable cause.
Basically, the (unfortunately) added and (VERY unfortunately) naturally occurring substances in meat cause these foods to be carcinogenic. For example, when a chemical in red meat called haem is broken down in the gut, N-nitroso chemicals are formed and these have been found to damage the cells that line the bowel, which can lead to bowel cancer. And each 50-gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. I’m not shitting you (sorry, couldn’t resist).
There are hundreds of scientific studies proving the meat-cancer link, but none more widely regarded than the China Study. As the largest and most comprehensive study on dietary links to cancer it’s a loooooong read so I’m not recommending it, but the main point to take away is this, “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest”. So let’s break down the factors behind these conclusions.
IGF-1 and Casein
Firstly, eating meat produces a high amount of IGF-1(insulin-like growth factor), which is a known growth promoter of cancer cells and accelerates tumor growth in colon, breast and prostate cancers. While IGF-1 plays an important role in promoting muscle growth in children, it is far less important in adults and contributes to ageing. Basically IGF-1 gives microscopic tumours some of the fuel they need to start growing.
And although technically not meat, it’s important to note that if you’re a milk lover, you might might want to switch to an oat or nut milk given that Casein, which makes up 87% of cow’s milk protein, promotes cancer growth at all stages of the cancer process. Casein can literally turn cancer cell growth on and off by regulating its supply. This is particularly important for men wanting to avoid prostate cancer.
Methionine
There is also other compelling evidence that an amino acid called methionine is one of only eight amino acids that cancer cells cannot live and function without. Interestingly though, normal cells can live without Methionine for an extended period of time. And there appears to be direct evidence that methionine restriction leads to selective death of cancer cells versus normal cells. And guess what has the highest concentrations of methionine? Yep. Meat. With fruit and vegetables having the lowest concentrations, followed by diary. See how much Methionine is in the foods you eat.
In cell culture studies, starving cells of methionine has actually resulted in cancer cell apoptosis (programmed cell death), which is the exact thing that cancer cells have forgotten to do.
Cooked meat carcinogens
Yes, bad news for BBQ lovers I’m afraid. All cooking can produce carcinogens from burning and overheating of some oils and ingredients. However it is the nature of how we typically cook our meat that lends itself to producing more of it. If meat is charred or blackened (bbq, pan fry), then carcinogenic heterocyclic amines are formed. One study found that identified cooking temperature (>150 degrees C), cooking time (>2 min) and cooking method (frying, oven grilling/broiling, barbecuing) to have the greatest impact on the amount of carcinogens produced.
Antiangeogenises
And while we are stuffing our face at the Sunday bbq, we’re also taking up valuable room for the cancer killing agents found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. In particular, the vegetables that have high antiangeogenises properties. Antiangeogenises prevents cancer cells from hijacking the normal angiogenesis process to create new blood vessels for the blood supply they need to grow. Although a number of chemotherapy drugs use antiangeogenises as their mechanism to kill cancer cells, they have not yet proven as a cure for cancer. However it has been suggested that we can effectively starve early cancer cell growth by eating only foods with Antiangeogenises properties.
So while meat itself may not be a direct cause of cancer, it is certainly a contributing factor at least in terms of accelerating growth and spread, whereas a vegan diet may dramatically slow cancer progression and even give the immune system a chance to heal it while it is still early in its development.
Ok, I’m sold. But… maybe just the BIG meat?
Ok so you’re not ready to give up meat just yet, no problem. Its super hard to just drop the main protein in your diet when you’ve been living and cooking that way for years (and live anywhere near an Argentinian restaurant — Chimichurri — so good!). So it’s all about starting with baby steps.
Set a goal
Eating less meat is not a goal, it’s a desire. So get specific about it. You eat meat every day right now? No problem, try meatless Mondays. You eat plenty of vegetables but plough the bacon on the weekend. Perhaps bacon once a month. Or if you’re really game (no pun intended), set yourself a target for meat-free days for the year. When I set out to do this in 2016 I set a goal for 100 meat free days are year. That’s basically 1 out of every three.
Track it
Once you’ve got your goal, its critical to track it to stay motivated. There are plenty of apps out there to do this (I used Habitlist, but I’ve heard Streak is also good). That way you’ll be able to actually stay honest with yourself and keep motivated along your journey.
Schedule time for transition
Going meat free requires a lot more work. You can’t just grab a quinoa butty (did I make that up?) for breakfast on the way to the office. Meat is freely available and let’s face it, is way easier to get tasting great when cooked by the average student with a hangover. So you’re going to have to set some time aside one weekend to do your research. What recipes are you going to master to make it enjoyable? Here are some of my favourites that have kept me going in recent months. What are the ingredients and brands you’ll now need to buy to make them? Especially for quick meatless snacks. You’re also going to have to get your map out and find some spots with great vegan and vegetarian food near your home and office. Once you build some new cooking and takeout habits, you’ll find yourself actually not missing meat. It took about 3 weeks for me but now I don’t even think about it.
My personal belief is that high quality, organic white meat cooked with low carcinogenic methods and consumed in small quantities are likely good for your health and add very little additional cancer risk. The trouble is that on the whole we are not consuming meat this way, especially when eaten outside the home. Along with the factors I’ve outlined above, antibiotics, GM and pesticide sprayed animal feed, steroids and growth promoters all contribute to what is essentially toxic meat that ends up on our plate. That’s why going vegan is a simple way to make sure you are avoiding the most harmful meat products. And let’s not even get started on bacon, ham and other processed meat products which are all classed as Group 1 carcinogens. I know! I hate it too because I LOVE bacon! But if I have to make some trade offs, I might like to drink some high quality wine instead of the bacon (although I can’t even do that right now as I’m abstaining from alcohol to raise money for Kids Cancer research). Dammit. Coffee anyone?
