Bacon is one of the most widely consumed meats all over the world. People include it in breakfast with eggs or sandwiches but have you ever thought what that slice of red meat is? Bacon is made from the belly of the pig, a part of the animal where the meat is generously surrounded by layers of fat. The belly is cut into portions, called slabs.These are cured by rubbing them with salt, immersing them in a salt brine, or injecting them with a salt solution as a preservative or curer. Many of these curing solutions also contain saltpetre, a chemical that helps preserve the bacon and gives the meat a rosy color.
Now, a Harvard University study headed Dr Dominique Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has made a connection between bacon , skinned chicken and bladder cancer. According to the study people who eat bacon at least five times a week are 59 percent more likely than non bacon eaters to develop bladder cancer than noneaters. The study also shows that people who frequently eat skinless chicken are 52 percent more likely to develop the same disease. Bladder cancer kills thousands of people every year.
The study found that cooked bacon includes Nitrosamines and Heterocyclic amines that are cancer causing. Research has shown that cooking red meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are not present in uncooked meats. Some of these increase cancer risks. Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are the carcinogenic chemicals formed from the cooking of meats such as beef, pork, fowl, and fish. HCAs form when amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and creatine (a chemical found in muscles) react at high cooking temperatures. Researchers have identified 17 different HCAs resulting from the cooking of meats.Research conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as well as by Japanese and European scientists indicates that heterocyclic amines are created within muscle meats during most types of high temperature cooking.
Nitrosamines are carcinogenic chemical compounds..Nitrosamines are found in fish, fish byproducts, meat and cheese products preserved with nitrite pickling salt.. They can also be formed by frying or smoking.Nitrosamines can cause cancers in animals and humans. Subtle changes in the structure of nitrosamines produce cancer in specific organs. Bacon nitrosamines affect the bladder. So does skinless chicken.
Harvard researchers studied 136,000 people who were tracked for 22 years, during which 808 developed bladder cancer. They also found that bacon indicated a certain type of person : people who ate bacon and other processed meats also were more likely to smoke, consume more fat and fewer vitamins, and less likely to exercise.
The connection between cancer and meat becomes clearer with hundreds of scientific studies coming to the same conclusion.
Scientists who studied 190,545 People in the Multiethnic Cohort Study in Hawaii and Los Angeles found those who ate the most processed meat had a 67% increase risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.
One study conducted by researchers from National Cancer Institute ( NCI's) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meats. The researchers assessed the diets and cooking habits of 176 people diagnosed with stomach cancer and 503 people without cancer. The researchers found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. They also found that people who ate beef four or more times a week had more than twice the risk of stomach cancer than those consuming beef less frequently. Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing bladder, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats.
Scientists at the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit and Open University compared red meat and vegetarian diets. Their study, published in Cancer Research, found the red meat was associated with DNA damage – the cells lining of the colon get damaged or mutated- leading to bowel cancer and that the chance of developing the disease was a third higher for people who regularly ate more than two portions per day of cooked red meat compared with those who ate less than one portion per week. According to the Medical Research Council, large bowel cancer is the second most common cancer and nearly one million cases occur each year worldwide. A spokesman for Beating Bowel Cancer said: "The fact is a third of all cancers are linked to what we eat and we must not underestimate the importance of diet in the prevention of bowel cancer. "
Researchers at the Cancer Research Centre . University of Hawaii , found that people who ate a lot of pork, red meat and processed meats like ham, hot dogs, cold cuts and salt pork increased their pancreatic cancer risk by around 50%, compared to those who ate less meat.
Frying, broiling and barbecuing meat at high temperature are linked to colon, breast and pancreatic cancers in humans. Fried bacon which has the most carcinogens. In a Norwegian study, men who ate the most processed meat, notably sausage, had the highest rates of colon cancer.
A six-year study of 90,000 women by Harvard found those who ate a main dish of red meat daily ( beef, pork or lamb) were 250 percent more likely to develop colon cancer than women who ate less or no meat less than once a month. The same study showed that younger women who eat red meat regularly faced an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer . The more red meat the women consumed when they were in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the greater their risk for getting breast cancer fueled by hormones in the next 12 years. Those who consumed the most red meat faced nearly twice the risk of those who ate red meat infrequently. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to examine the relationship between red-meat consumption and breast cancer in premenopausal women,. Breast cancer strikes one in nine women making it the most common cancer and the second-most common cause of cancer death among women.
Now, a Harvard University study headed Dr Dominique Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has made a connection between bacon , skinned chicken and bladder cancer. According to the study people who eat bacon at least five times a week are 59 percent more likely than non bacon eaters to develop bladder cancer than noneaters. The study also shows that people who frequently eat skinless chicken are 52 percent more likely to develop the same disease. Bladder cancer kills thousands of people every year.
The study found that cooked bacon includes Nitrosamines and Heterocyclic amines that are cancer causing. Research has shown that cooking red meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are not present in uncooked meats. Some of these increase cancer risks. Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are the carcinogenic chemicals formed from the cooking of meats such as beef, pork, fowl, and fish. HCAs form when amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and creatine (a chemical found in muscles) react at high cooking temperatures. Researchers have identified 17 different HCAs resulting from the cooking of meats.Research conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as well as by Japanese and European scientists indicates that heterocyclic amines are created within muscle meats during most types of high temperature cooking.
Nitrosamines are carcinogenic chemical compounds..Nitrosamines are found in fish, fish byproducts, meat and cheese products preserved with nitrite pickling salt.. They can also be formed by frying or smoking.Nitrosamines can cause cancers in animals and humans. Subtle changes in the structure of nitrosamines produce cancer in specific organs. Bacon nitrosamines affect the bladder. So does skinless chicken.
Harvard researchers studied 136,000 people who were tracked for 22 years, during which 808 developed bladder cancer. They also found that bacon indicated a certain type of person : people who ate bacon and other processed meats also were more likely to smoke, consume more fat and fewer vitamins, and less likely to exercise.
The connection between cancer and meat becomes clearer with hundreds of scientific studies coming to the same conclusion.
Scientists who studied 190,545 People in the Multiethnic Cohort Study in Hawaii and Los Angeles found those who ate the most processed meat had a 67% increase risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.
One study conducted by researchers from National Cancer Institute ( NCI's) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meats. The researchers assessed the diets and cooking habits of 176 people diagnosed with stomach cancer and 503 people without cancer. The researchers found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. They also found that people who ate beef four or more times a week had more than twice the risk of stomach cancer than those consuming beef less frequently. Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing bladder, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats.
Scientists at the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit and Open University compared red meat and vegetarian diets. Their study, published in Cancer Research, found the red meat was associated with DNA damage – the cells lining of the colon get damaged or mutated- leading to bowel cancer and that the chance of developing the disease was a third higher for people who regularly ate more than two portions per day of cooked red meat compared with those who ate less than one portion per week. According to the Medical Research Council, large bowel cancer is the second most common cancer and nearly one million cases occur each year worldwide. A spokesman for Beating Bowel Cancer said: "The fact is a third of all cancers are linked to what we eat and we must not underestimate the importance of diet in the prevention of bowel cancer. "
Researchers at the Cancer Research Centre . University of Hawaii , found that people who ate a lot of pork, red meat and processed meats like ham, hot dogs, cold cuts and salt pork increased their pancreatic cancer risk by around 50%, compared to those who ate less meat.
Frying, broiling and barbecuing meat at high temperature are linked to colon, breast and pancreatic cancers in humans. Fried bacon which has the most carcinogens. In a Norwegian study, men who ate the most processed meat, notably sausage, had the highest rates of colon cancer.
A six-year study of 90,000 women by Harvard found those who ate a main dish of red meat daily ( beef, pork or lamb) were 250 percent more likely to develop colon cancer than women who ate less or no meat less than once a month. The same study showed that younger women who eat red meat regularly faced an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer . The more red meat the women consumed when they were in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the greater their risk for getting breast cancer fueled by hormones in the next 12 years. Those who consumed the most red meat faced nearly twice the risk of those who ate red meat infrequently. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to examine the relationship between red-meat consumption and breast cancer in premenopausal women,. Breast cancer strikes one in nine women making it the most common cancer and the second-most common cause of cancer death among women.
Maneka Gandhi
