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Friday 30 October 2015

How to eat red meat without killing yourself


If you’re a paleo fan or Atkins diet devotee — or simply a die-hard carnivore — you may be putting your life at risk, a new study reveals.



Published: Oct 27, 2015
Eating processed meats like bacon, ham, hot dogs and sausage puts you at risk of getting cancer, according to a report released Monday by the World Health Organization. The WHO put processed meats — defined as meats that have been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation — in the highest of five categories in terms of their cancer-causing potential, along with cigarettes, arsenic, plutonium and asbestos.
This post is on Heathwise

Thursday 29 October 2015

Processed meats do cause cancer - WHO

Processed meats - such as bacon, sausages and ham - do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

Bacon sarnie

26 October 2015


Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence.
The WHO did stress that meat also had health benefits.
Cancer Research UK said this was a reason to cut down rather than give up red and processed meats.
And added that an occasional bacon sandwich would do little harm.


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What is processed meat?

Processed meat has been modified to either extend its shelf life or change the taste and the main methods are smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives.
Simply putting beef through a mincer does not mean the resulting mince is "processed" unless it is modified further.
Processed meat includes bacon, sausages, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky and ham as well as canned meat and meat-based sauces.


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It is the chemicals involved in the processing which could be increasing the risk of cancer. High temperature cooking, such as on a barbeque, can also create carcinogenic chemicals.
In the UK, around six out of every 100 people get bowel cancer at some point in their lives.
If they were all had an extra 50g of bacon a day for the rest of their lives then the risk would increase by 18% to around seven in 100 people getting bowel cancer.
"So that's one extra case of bowel cancer in all those 100 lifetime bacon-eaters," argued Sir David Spiegelhalter, a risk professor from the University of Cambridge.


Graphic: Classification of red & processed meat products

How bad?

The WHO has come to the conclusion on the advice of its International Agency for Research on Cancer, which assesses the best available scientific evidence.
It has now placed processed meat in the same category as plutonium, but also alcohol as they definitely do cause cancer.
However, this does not mean they are equally dangerous. A bacon sandwich is not as bad as smoking.
"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed," Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said.


Estimates suggest 34,000 deaths from cancer every year could be down to diets high in processed meat.

Red meat risk

In context

21%
of bowel cancers are caused by processed or red meat
86%
of lung cancers are caused by tobacco
  • 19% of all cancers caused by tobacco compared to
  • 3% of all cancers ascribed to red or processed meat
PA
That is in contrast to one million deaths from cancer caused by smoking and 600,000 attributed to alcohol each year.
Red meat does have nutritional value too and is a major source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
However, the WHO said there was limited evidence that 100g of red meat a day increased the risk of cancer by 17%.
An eight ounce steak is 225g.


Processed meatsImage copyrightThinkstock

The WHO said its findings were important for helping countries give balanced dietary advice.

Little harm

Prof Tim Key, from the Cancer Research UK and the University of Oxford, said: "This decision doesn't mean you need to stop eating any red and processed meat, but if you eat lots of it you may want to think about cutting down.
"Eating a bacon bap every once in a while isn't going to do much harm - having a healthy diet is all about moderation."
Dr Teresa Norat, one of the advisors to the WHO report and from Imperial College London, said there were many factors causing bowel cancer.
She told BBC News website: "People should limit consumption of red meat and avoid consuming processed meat, but they should also have a diet rich in fibre, from fruit and vegetables and maintain an adequate body weight throughout life and limit the consumption of alcohol and be physically active."
The industry body the Meat Advisory Panel said "avoiding red meat in the diet is not a protective strategy against cancer" and said the focus should be alcohol, smoking and body weight.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34615621

This post is on Healthwise

Wednesday 28 October 2015

Gout and malnutrition levels soaring as Victorian disease return

New figures show soaring levels of gout, a disease associated with indulgence, at a time when cases of malnutrition are also rising


James Gillray’s 1799 cartoon 'The Gout’. Sufferers, often guilty of overeating or drinking too much red wine, are easy targets

11:30AM GMT 27 Oct 2015





Levels of gout and malnutrition are soaring, official figures show.
NHS statistics show that diseases which were rife in the Victorian era are making a comeback.
The trends show that conditions associated with indulgence, and excess eating and drinking, are rising sharply at the same time as increased numbers are being admitted to hospital suffering from malnourishment.
Overall, the figures show the number of patients admitted to hospital with gout rose by 61 per cent in five years, while the number with malnutrition has risen by 51 per cent.
Gout is associated with excess eating and drinking, and became known as the disease of kings as it afflicted a number of monarchs including Henry VIII.
King Henry VIII: The most followable of dead tweeters.
King Henry VIII: a Tudor Eurosceptic  Photo: ALAMY
Experts said the number of cases of malnutrition in a wealthy country were "unacceptable," while warning that the rising gout levels appeared to be driven by junk food and spiralling rates of obesity.
Gout is caused when too much food and drink can cause a build-up in the blood of uric acid, a waste product formed by the breakdown of food, beer and wine. If someone produces too much uric acid tiny crystals will start to form in the joints and cause pain and inflammation.
Rises were also seen in scarlet fever, scurvy, cholera and whooping cough over the period, the figures show.
"The most unwelcome rise in gout figures emphasises how ignorant people are about the consequences of overeating"
Tam Fry, National Obesity Forum
The highest levels of gout were in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, with rates of 17.2 cases per 100,000 people, more than twice those in Hertfordshire and the South Midlands, with 7.7 cases per 100,000.
Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly recorded the highest malnutrition admission rates, with 2.4 cases per 100,000 people, with the lowest figures in Bath, Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire, at just 0.6 cases per 100,000.
The statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that in 2014/15, 104,972 patients were admitted to hospital suffering from gout, compared with 65,387 cases in 2010/11.
Meanwhile hospital admissions of patients suffering from malnutrition rose from 4,883 cases in 2010/11 to 7,366 in 2014/15.
Prof John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "It is unacceptable that malnutrition is increasing in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. No matter where we live, we should not become accustomed to food poverty or food banks.
"Gout is also on the rise, and no longer confined to wealthy Victorians. It now affects rich and poor alike. That increase probably reflects our ageing population, burdened by junk food and steep rises in obesity."
He called for the introduction of a sugar tax, with funds used to improve child health.
The Department of Health has said it is "unacceptable" for patients to go hungry or be malnourished in hospitals  Photo: Action Press / Rex Features












The period saw a doubling in cases of scarlet fever, from 466 to 1,099 cases per year, and a rise in whooping cough cases – from 272 to 369 cases per year.
The figures show 82 admissions with scurvy in 2010/11, rising to 113 cases in 2014/15, with 36 admissions with cholera in 2014/15, a quadrupling from the nine cases five years earlier.
The official statistics on Victorian diseases cover hospital admissions in England where a primary or secondary diagnosis of the disease was made, meaning many thousands more can suffer such conditions without them being noted.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: "The most unwelcome rise in gout figures emphasises how ignorant people are in general about the consequences of overeating. Many blithely assume that indulgence in food just makes you fat. How wrong can they be.
"Gout is just one string of diseases triggered by obesity, the treatment costs for which could well cause the NHS to collapse."
The trends have been seen for some years, with rising cases of gout likely to reflect rising obesity levels.

EALTH ADVICE

5 ways to stave off a gout attack



  •  Maintain a healthy weight. If you’re overweight, shed the pounds in a gradual, safe way, aiming to lose 1-2lbs a week.
  • Reduce your consumption of alcohol. Beer, in particular, contains high levels of purines, which could be an indirect cause of gout.
  • Drink plenty of fluids (preferably water). This helps the kidneys flush uric acid from the body. Aim to drink at least two litres per day.
  • Reduce your consumption of purine-rich foods. Purines are the natural compounds found in many foods. Once broken down, their end product is uric acid. Start by reducing your intake of red meat (especially offal), fish (especially if it’s oily) and poultry.
  • Limit your intake of sugar and sugary foods. This isn’t just about avoiding weight gain. Sugary foods, drinks and snacks often contain fructose which may increase uric levels in the blood. Be particularly vigilant about so-called "healthy" foods such as cereals and cereal bars.
  • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11957589/Gout-and-malnutrition-levels-soaring-as-Victorian-disease-return.html

    This post is on Healthwise