What's The Beef On Processed And Red Meat?

BIG NEWS in the nutrition world this week - the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has stated that processed meat causes colon cancer. 

The science:  IARC assessed more than 800 epidemiological (population based) studies to evaluate the link between red meat, processed meat, and cancer, giving the greatest weight to prospective cohort studies, and taking additional evidence from high quality population based case-control studies.  They made a point of focusing on data that included large sample sizes and controlled for possible confounding factors (these are other factors that could be responsible for the same result, for example smoking).   Their meta-analysis found:

1.  An 18% increased risk of colon cancer per 50g of daily processed meat consumption (with confidence that there was no confounding or other explanation for the results);

2.  A 17% increased risk of colon cancer per 100g of daily red meat consumption (with less confidence that there was no other explanation for the results)

3.  Positive associations between consumption of processed meat and stomach cancer;

4.  Positive associations between consumption of red meat and cancers of the pancreas and prostate.


Based on these results, they have classified processed meats as being carcinogenic (cancer causing), and red meat as 'probably carcinogenic' to humans. 

It seems that how meat is cooked or processed is relevant to this discussion.  Meat processing, such as curing or smoking, can result in the formation of cancer causing chemicals such as N-nitroso-compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).  Cooking meat can produce chemicals also suspected of causing cancer, including heterocyclic aromatic amines and PAH.  High temperature cooking (pan frying, BBQ, or grilling) produces the highest amounts of these chemicals.

While red meat does contain lots of good quality protein and important nutrients such as B vitamins, iron and zinc, these nutrients can be found in other, healthier food choices.

So, meat lovers: you're best off to limit your intake of processed meats and red meats; consider healthier alternative such as poultry or fish.

A scientific discussion of the evidence can be found in The Lancet Oncology, and you can read more about the IARC (if interested) here.

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2015 

Read more...

Secrets To Success - Keeping Weight Off

Have you ever wondered what the secret to success might be, for people who have lost weight and have been able to keep it off?

While the answer to this question will be different for each individual, the American National Weight Control Registry was established in 1994 to try to identify behaviors associated with long term weight loss success.   It is the largest prospective observational study of weight maintenance out there, and includes individuals who have maintained a weight loss of at least 30 lbs for at least 1 year.

Some interesting facts about NWCR members:

• 80% are women, 20% men
• average age is 45-50 years
• 45% lost weight on their own, and 55% with a program

Here are the winning patterns of NWCR members:

• 98% modify their food intake in some permanent way: portion control, low fat diet
• 90% exercise at least 1 hour per day, burning at least 400 calories per session
• 78% eat breakfast every day
• 75% weigh themselves once a week
• 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week
• average daily calorie intake for women = 1306 cal
• average daily calorie intake for men = 1685 cal

While the causes and contributors to excess weight, and the challenges in maintaining weight loss are different from person to person, it would be worthwhile to consider these permanent habits to improve the likelihood of long term weight management success!

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2015 

Read more...

Could Antibiotics Cause Diabetes?

The more we learn about type 2 diabetes, the more we appreciate that there are many, many factors that play into the development of this complex medical condition.  The bugs that live in our intestines (called microbiota) are falling under increased scrutiny in how they affect our metabolism.  A new study suggests that antibiotic use (which changes our microbiota) increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The study, conducted by Mikkelsen and colleagues and published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (a journal that we endocrinologists love to geek out over) looked at 12 years of data from the entire population of Denmark.  They found that those who had filled 2-4 prescriptions for antibiotics has a 21% higher risk of having type 2 diabetes, compared with those who had filled 0-1 antibiotic prescriptions.  The higher the frequency of antibiotic usage, the higher the risk of having type 2 diabetes. The higher use of antibiotics in type 2 diabetes patients was seen for up to 15 years before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, as well as after the diagnosis of diabetes.  

So does this clearly tell us that antibiotics destroy our gut bacteria and cause diabetes?  No.  The data could also be interpreted to reflect that diabetics (diagnosed or not yet diagnosed) are at higher risk of infection, therefore more likely to need antibiotics.  That being said, the fact that the association between antibiotic use and diabetes was seen for up to 15 years before diabetes was diagnosed, makes it unlikely that these data simply reflect diabetics needing treatment for infections. (while diabetes has often been present 5-7 years before diagnosis, 15 years of undetected diabetes is unlikely). 

We are still in the early stages of understanding how our gut bugs affect our metabolism, but there is increasing evidence that they play an important role not only in the development of obesity, but also potentially in the development of type 2 diabetes. I will be watching this area with interest!

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2015 

Read more...