Dr. Ralph J. Delfino and colleagues at the University of California at Irvine College of Medicine say there is no evidence that meat cooked at high temperatures promotes an elevated risk of breast cancer. In fact, women who ate more chicken showed half the risk of breast cancer than women who did not eat white meat. Researchers found women who ate more than 67 grams of white meat daily showed half the risk for breast cancer than women who ate less than 26 grams daily. The team reports that, regardless of how the food was prepared — blackened, barbecued, grilled or pan-fried, red meat didn’t increase the risk of breast cancer, while white meat actually seemed to offer protection against breast cancer. The team points out, however, that while other studies show that chemicals found on the surfaces of cooked meats led to the growth of cancer cells in the mammary glands of rats and this study refutes this effect in humans, the scope of this study did not rule out that such foods may add to the risk for colon and stomach cancers.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: reported by www.onhealth.com 3/29/00
