Unsafe meat cooking practices increases the risk of colorectal cancer
Meat is relished worldwide and it is the favourite food item for non-vegetarians. Though India is the only country where vegetarianism is a way of life for some, the numbers of non-vegetarian eaters surpass that of vegetarians. Meats are of two types: red meat and white meat. Red meat is the darker coloured meat such as beef, mutton and duck meat, whereas white meat is lighter in colour such as chicken and fish.
Western society consumes foods rich in meat, especially red meat. In an attempt to mimic the west, Indians have increasingly taken to red meat consumption, especially mutton and beef. Red meat consumption is high in the northern states. But the health implications related to red meat are high. Research says that red meat is implicated as the cause of colorectal cancer. Hence; red meat must be consumed moderately.
Colorectal cancer is the cancer that occurs in the colon (large intestine) or rectum passageway connecting the colon to the anus. It is the third most common cancer in men (663 000 cases, 10.0% of the total) and the second in women (571 000 cases, 9.4% of the total) worldwide. It was estimated to account for 9, 45,000 cases and 4,92,000 deaths in 2000. In the year 2008 in India, there were 36 new cases of colon cancer and 25 new cases of death due to colon cancer.
The rising incidence of colon cancer in India can be attributed to the rise in the consumption of red meat. There are several reasons behind red meat causing colorectal cancer. Firstly, the method of cooking meat is the culprit. Meats are cooked either by barbecuing, grilling, deep-frying and pan-frying. Cooking meat using these methods employs high temperatures cooking for a long time. This results in production of compounds which are carcinogenic in nature. Some of these compounds are heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Moreover, red meat contains high iron levels than white meat. Thus, ingestion of red meat results in high iron levels in the colon, which are supposed to increase the risk of free radicals leading to the formation of cancerous cells.
Studies showed that preserved meat is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer as opposed to fresh meat. Preservatives, specially nitrates are the cause as the body converts them to nitrosamines, which are cancer-causing agents.
Studies also suggest a link between high levels of animal fat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. This could be due to release of free fatty acids or bile acids inside the large intestine. These are toxic to the cells.
As per studies carried out in United States and Europe in 2005, the people who ate the maximum amount of red meat (about 5 ounces a day) were a third more likely to develop colon cancer than those who ate the least red meat. (less than an ounce a day on average).
Results from a study from England states that large amounts of red meat consumption is capable of producing genetic damage to colon cells in just a few weeks.
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