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Comment by _1qd4 | Hacker News Reader

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_1qd4·

"Stop eating so much red meat" - What the American Cancer Society should be urging.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/red-meat-a...

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The Western dietary pattern in general is correlated with increased colon cancer risk.

According to that article this will decrease your risk by... 25%. Which is nice, but not massive on an individual level.

Quitting smoking only drops your risk of lung cancer by 21%: https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20080506/quit-s...

As someone who loves red meat, I find 25% extremely significant on a personal level.

The lifetime risk of developing colon or rectal cancer is about 4.5%. Assuming research cited above is correct (a big assumption, considering the history of medical research) and red meat consumption increases that 25%, your risk is now about 5.5%.

Edit: I misread; the claim is in the other direction, that cutting red meat reduces your risk. So 4.5% becomes 3.4%

Wait what? 25% cut is massive! Especially since it's a relatively small ask. You can still eat red meat, just don't have steak every day. Considering reducing red meat intake has whole bunch of other benefits (reduces pollution, better cardio-vascular health), it's just win-win-win all around.

This actually makes me concerned, I eat pork a lot. Pork chops are a high protein, relatively cheap, quick to make, and tasty meal. I'm also African American so there is a greater risk...

I think lack of fiber could be a factor, too. White bread has almost no fiber.

Neither do meat, dairy, and other animal products.

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