Alice RD
A headline I saw yesterday reminded me how often I’ve had to answer the question of whether pork is “red” or “white” meat.
The answer: even a clever marketing campaign doesn’t change the fact that pork is red meat. (Red meat refers to flesh from animals that have more red than white muscle fibers.) And that it is a cause of colorectal cancer.
The just released WCRF/AICR Continuous Update Project Report on Colorectal Cancer concluded that evidence remains convincing that red and processed meat increase risk for this cancer.
Keep your weekly amounts of cooked red meat (beef, lamb, pork) to less than 18 ounces per week, amounts above that are where risk increases. Even small amounts of processed meat (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, for example) eaten regularly increases risk – so save these for a few special occasions.
What does 18 oz. of cooked meat look like? A typical fast food hamburger (small or Jr.) is about 2 oz. This website’s portion slide show can help with serving sizes for many foods.
I was recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I ate an average of red meat and (beef and pork) twice a week. NO MORE! Will be eating lots of fish and chicken from now on.