Study: No Evidence Eating Meat and Fat Ups Colorectal Cancer Risk

Although a diet high in meat and fat has long been suspected to increase the risk of colorectal cancer, researchers from the National Cancer Institute said a large study involving more than 45,000 women provided no evidence to support this theory.

Reporting in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers said they followed the group for an average of eight and a half years during which 487 of the women developed colorectal cancer.

Based on questionnaires filled out by the women, the researchers sought to determine whether the risk of colorectal cancer was increased by higher consumption of total meat, red meat, white meat, processed meat, and well-done meat, as well as total fat, saturated fat, and unsaturated fat.

The researchers said they found no link between colorectal cancer and consuming higher amounts of meat, red meat or fat.

"Additionally, none of the other subtypes of either meat or fat showed any association with colorectal cancer," the researchers said.

"This study provided no evidence of an association between either meat or fat (or any of their subtypes) and colorectal cancer incidence," they concluded. But they cautioned that they still "cannot rule out the possibility of a modest association."

Other sources: American Journal of Epidemiology