You probably already know this (low hanging fruit), but in case your or another reader doesn’t, eliminating processed meat and limiting red meat consumption seem very likely to reduce your risk of some types of cancer, particularly of the colon. There are studies that argue otherwise, and the purported relative risks also vary, but my general takeaway has been that processed meat = definitely bad, and red meat = possibly bad if eaten daily or in consistently large portions.
Recommendations are a little varied depending on where you look, but what I’ve opted for is having processed meat at most once a month and red meats at most 3x/week (this was a big cut for me!) Depending on your priors of having the relevant cancers (family history, lifestyle factors) you might not need this extreme a reduction, or even to worry at all.
I’ve honestly spent no more than ~5 hours researching this so could be being misled by poorly conducted studies, but I view it as at least weak evidence in favor of it that the NHS and WHO are aligned on this advice. I also have family history of colon cancer, making the potential upside of a reduction in my risk more appealing than the downside of just eating more fish and poultry.
Curious to see other responses to this question, best of luck.
You probably already know this (low hanging fruit), but in case your or another reader doesn’t, eliminating processed meat and limiting red meat consumption seem very likely to reduce your risk of some types of cancer, particularly of the colon. There are studies that argue otherwise, and the purported relative risks also vary, but my general takeaway has been that processed meat = definitely bad, and red meat = possibly bad if eaten daily or in consistently large portions.
Recommendations are a little varied depending on where you look, but what I’ve opted for is having processed meat at most once a month and red meats at most 3x/week (this was a big cut for me!) Depending on your priors of having the relevant cancers (family history, lifestyle factors) you might not need this extreme a reduction, or even to worry at all.
I’ve honestly spent no more than ~5 hours researching this so could be being misled by poorly conducted studies, but I view it as at least weak evidence in favor of it that the NHS and WHO are aligned on this advice. I also have family history of colon cancer, making the potential upside of a reduction in my risk more appealing than the downside of just eating more fish and poultry.
Curious to see other responses to this question, best of luck.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/red-meat-and-the-risk-of-bowel-cancer/ https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/whats-the-beef-with-red-meat