THE PALEO DIET: DEAD LIKE A CAVEMAN - by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

FROM the BOOK "THE END of DIETING" – by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

Page 43)  One of the most popular diets today is also the most harmful. The Paleo crowd believes that if we eat like our Paleolithic ancestors, then we will be much healthier - practically free of disease. All by eating plates and plates of meat.

Well, not only is this the wrong message, it's not even a new message! The high-protein diet continues to take different names and forms, gaining new legions of meat-loving devotees every generation. First it was known as the Atkins diet, then Sugar Busters. Then it came back as the South Beach diet, and, most recently, the Dukan diet. Now it's the Paleo diet. Regardless of its name or specific iteration, however, it's always the same diet - high protein, low carb, enormous risk.

Our modern diet, the SAD, causes diseases. Eating refined sugar, white flour, processed oils, and commercially processed meats is harmful to our health. But instead of replacing those unhealthy choices with seeds, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and other foods packed with vital nutrients, the Paleo crowd continues to advocate for more meat. They also tell you to stay away from beans and whole grains entirely. This is despite irrefutable evidence that eating beans reduces the risk of cancer and enhances longetivity. The Paleo position is diametrically opposed to the overwhelming scientific evidence that confirms that consuming large quantities of meat is a health risk.

For a normally sized male, a meat-based Paleo diet contains between 150 to 200 grams of protein a day, or roughly 3 to 4 times the daily amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This diet is foolishly and dangerously excessive. All animal products, including meat, fish, and dairy, are rich in substances associated with cancer and heart disease: saturated fat, cholesterol, and arachidonic acid. However, it isn't merely the fat content that makes excessive animal products disease promoting. Animal protein stimulates the rise of cancer-promoting hormones within the body, especially insulin - like growth factor - 1 (IGF-1). When we consume animal protein, the body increases its production of IGF-1. Though IGF-1 is one of the body's most important growth promoters during infancy and childhood, it accelerates the aging process, promoting the growth, proliferation, and spread of cancer cells later in life. Elevated IGF-1 levels are linked to an increased risk of several types of cancers, including colon, breast, and prostate cancer.

Reduced IGF-1 signaling in adulthood, on the other hand, is associated with reduced oxidative stress, decreased inflammation, enhanced insulin sensitivity, and longer lifespan.

Protein-rich plant foods, such as seeds, beans, and greens, don't raise IGF-1 levels, don't contain pro-inflammatory substances, and are rich in anti-inflammatory and life-extending phytochemicals. The secret to long life and successful weight loss is to get more protein from natural plant sources and less from animal products.

Clearly, at this point in nutritional science we have enough studies which show that diets higher in the amount of meat shorten lifespan and promote cancer. And these studies have been consistent in various regions of the world and with various types of meat, implicating many different aspects of meat, including grass-fed meats and the more contaminated commercial corn-fed or grain-fed meats.

But you'd never hear this if you're talking to a Paleo diet advocate. Recently, I attented a medical conference in Denver, Colorado, where I heard Loren Cordain, an exercise physiologist and leader of the Paleo movement, give a talk. In his presentation, he advocated a diet in which 80 percent of calories come from meat. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. That is more than double the high meat intake that Americans already consume! How could he advocate such a cancer-promoting diet? When an astute conference attendee asked Cordain about IGF-1, he replied, irritably and incorrectly, "Only sugar raises IGF-1 levels, not meat." Never mind science; Cordain was staying on message, though he didn't deny the cancer-promoting effects of elevating IGF-1. That animal  protein is the primary driver of higher IGF-1 levels is a fly in the ointment that all Paleo advocates must acknowledge. The clarity of the scientific studies on this issue shows that their favored diet promotes cancer.

A recent scientific study compared the amount of animal products consumed in 157 different countries with high-quality food consumption and disease-occurrence data and noted that cancer rates were highest (with a 15 to 20 year lag time) in populations consuming the most animal products and lowest in those consuming the least. Fewer than 10 percent of calories from animal products correlated with lowest cancer risks (standardized for age).

Page 47) Though some people may experience moderate, short - term weight loss by reducing refined carbohydrates and increasing calories from animal products, such as poultry and other meats, the dramatically dangerous health results are clear over the long term. A number of recent studies confirm this. The Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals follow-up Study, for instance, found a positive association between a diet high in animal protein and cardiovascular mortality. A diet consisting mostly of vegetable sources of protein shared no such link with cardiovascular mortality. Similarly, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study also showed a causal relationship between strokes and ischemic, or coronary, heart disease and high-protein, low-carb diets.

A huge Swedish prospective study also gathered data from more than 40,000 women between the ages of 30 and 49. Researchers followed them for an average of 15.7 years. Women with a diet low in carbohydrates and high in animal protein significantly increased their risk of cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and ischemic stroke in a dose-dependent manner (that is, these diseases rose in proportion to the increased consumption of animal protein). Researchers also found that for every increase of 5 grams of animal protein and decrease of 20 grams of carbohydrates a day, the risk of cardiovascular disease was increased by 5 percent. The increased consumption of meat has consistently been associated with an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes as well. Even half a serving more of meat a day increased the risk of diabetes by 48 percent in a large study of almost 150,000 individuals.

The EPIC-PANACEA study, one of the largest weight evaluation studies in history, found that meat and poultry intake, after adjustment for calories, was responsible for the highest amount of body fat. What this means is a person who eats meat will weigh more and have more body fat than someone whose source of calories is predominantly from plants, even though the number of calories is exactly the same.

Page 48) The data are overwhelming. Clearly, we need to eat much less animal products.

The Adventist Health Study had the best-controlled data for shedding light on this subject. It compared vegans with flexitarians, that is, people who eat meat only a few times a week. It showed the vegans had an average increased lifespan of 1.5 years compared to the flexitarians eating one or two servings of animal products a week, which is less than 5 percent of total calories. Recently, I have been advocating either a vegan diet or a diet with less than 5 percent of calories from animal products. I think the evidence is now compelling enough to show that even 10 percent, which I suggested as the upper limit in the past, may be too much animal products to optimally protect against cancer, largely because it could add roughly 200 calories from animal products and more than 30 grams of animal protein to your diet a day. Such a level could elevate IGF-1 levels beyond what is optimal in most people.

Regardless of this debatable point of interest, and the difficulty in establishing a precise percentage of safety, it is irresponsible and negligent to advise people to increase their consumption of animal products from 30 percent up to 60 to 80 percent, as Paleo and other high-protein advocates do. No reasonable scientist familiar with the body of literature on this subject would consider this amount safe. I think nutritional scientists the world over would agree that we have to reduce the level of 30 percent by at least half.

Even the dangerous Paleo diet may look acceptable when compared with the SAD. However, only a diet rich in colorful vegetables, both raw and cooked, can ward off disease, reduce fat storage, protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer, and simultaneously stabilize your weight. The Paleo diet is a passing fad that caters to the like - minded meat - obsessed crowd, helping them justify how they want to eat. Every new iteration of high - protein mania succeeds despite cumulative evidence of thousands of studies that consistently shows that the relative healthfulness of any diet is generally proportional to its higher vegetable content and the variety of its vegetable content. Paleo and high-protein diets are only for people who still believe the earth is flat.

It is also worth noting that some Paleo advocates will tell the story that they experienced a "failure to thrive" on a vegan or vegetarian diet. They may report that their body was falling apart and they were dying until they started eating more animal products again. Of course, they didn't try eating higher - protein plant food and more whole - plant fats from high-protein plant food and more whole - plant fats from high - protein seeds and nuts or even some limited amount of animal products in conjunction with more beans. To feel well, they just had to go back to eating lots and lots of meat. These stories merely indicate bias and nutritional ignorance of how to structure a healthy diet and how to achieve nutritional adequacy for a wide range of human needs and requirements. Even those people who require a diet with more protein and fat can achieve that without resorting to a diet loaded with meat.

Page 50

SAMPLE PLANT PROTEIN CONTENT (GRAMS)

28.6    Soybeans, boiled (1 cup)
24.0    Mediterranean pine nuts (1/2 cup)
18.2    Almonds (3 oz.)
17.9    Lentils, boiled (1 cup)
15.3    Kidney beans, boiled (1 cup)
15.2    Spinach, frozen (2 cups)
14.5    Chickpeas, boiled (1 cup)
13.2    Hemp seeds (1/2 cup)
12.8   Sesame seeds (1/2 cup)
11.5   Sunflower seeds (1/2 cup)
11.4   Broccoli, frozen (2 cups)
11.0   Tofu, extra firm (4 oz.)
10.3   Collards, boiled (2 cups)
8.3     Peas, frozen (1 cup)

Page 56)

Fats in nuts and seeds are rich in sterols, stanols, fibers, minerals, lignans, and other health - promoting nutrients that help lower cholesterol. They are linked in numerous scientific studies to a slimmer waistline and longer lifespan.

Researchers have found that including nuts and seeds in your diet can help you lose weight. Although they aren't low in calories and are relatively high in fat, eating them may actually satisfy hunger and suppress appetite. I find that eating a small amount of nuts or seeds helps dieters feel satiated, stay with the program, and have more success at long - term weight loss. Seeds give you all the advantages of nuts, plus more. They are generally higher in protein than nuts and have many additional, important nutrients, such as omega - 3 - fatty acids and anti - cancer lignans.

A recent study compared a traditional Mediterranean diet with one that substitutes nuts for oil. According to the study, the Mediterranean diet minus the nuts did not lessen atherosclerotic plaque. The version that substituted nuts for oil, however, did.

The Mediterranean diet was further evaluated in Spain, randomizing 7,216 men and women to include either nuts or olive oil. The group consuming more than 3 servings of nuts per week had a 39 percent reduced all - cause mortality over the average 4.8 years of follow - up, compared with the group not consuming nuts.

Page 63) Over the past 30 years, evidence on the benefits of consuming nuts and seeds has accumulated. It is now too definitive to ignore. Scores of studies have demonstrated that nuts and seeds help decrease dramatically the occurrence of cancer, heart disease, and strokes, while significantly increasing the average person's life expectancy.

By incorporating nuts and seeds back into my vegan patients' diets, as well as by supplementing these diets with low doses of DHA - a long - chain omega - 3 fatty acid usually found in fish but also available as an algae - derived vegan supplement - I was able to generally cure their symptoms and bring up the low levels of these fatty acids shown in their blood tests.

In fact, the Harvard Nurses' Study, which involved more than 10,000 women, now followed for more than 25 years, found that nuts and seeds shared the strongest link to longetivity. Eating 2 small handfuls a week, according to the study, had as many lifespan - enhancing benefits as jogging 4 hours a week.

Page 77) People do not consider long - term effects of their actions and do not realize that looking at a study that lasts for one or two years is not sufficient to ascertain risks. It would take 20 to 30 years to see pertinent findings of increased risk of cancer. When the atomic bomb was exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in the 1940s, it took 40 years to see the peak in cancer occur from that increased radiation exposure. In general, there is a significant lag time between cause and effect when we are looking at cancer. It takes many years of observation to state an intervention is safe.

Page 78) The link between high - protein diets and breast cancer has not been investigated; however, the vast majority of the studies examining this issue conducted over long periods of time show a clear link with higher meat consumption. To fully appreciate the link between diet and breast cancer, you have to examine early - life diets in detail, not later - life diet, right before the diagnosis is made. This is why epidemiological studies show a strong relationship with animal products and cancer and cohort studies on later - life adults do not.

For example, in the Shangai Breast Cancer Study, they compared the vegetable and soy diet pattern to women eating a higher meat and sweet diet pattern and found a 60 percent increased risk of breast cancer in the meat and sweet group. The concern that this brings up is that many of these low - carb, high - protein dieters are younger and they are maintaining these extreme high - meat diets for many years. -  by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
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VEGAN HEALTH CLAIMS are ACCURATE

Increasingly, meat eaters are claiming that vegans are exaggerating the health benefits of plant-based diets. Maybe we should ignore the plethora of data showing the benefits of proper vegan diets. Why not hope for a magic pill to deliver us from gluttony and its deadly consequences?

When reading about these nutritional studies, it is worth noting this: beef, chicken, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and steak and eggs CANNOT cure or improve ANY disease. In fact, these animal proteins stimulate the rise of cancer – promoting hormones such as IGF-1. It is not just the saturated fat and cholesterol in animal products, but insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), that causes disease.

Consider too, that if meat improved or cured cancer, studies would indicate this: cancer patients should eat more hot dogs! Dairy products have not cured any diseases, either.

If meat and dairy shrank tumors, or stopped the spread of cancer cells, then newspapers would publish articles like this: “Meat & Milk Improves Cancer.” You will not read this headline: "Ice Cream and Cheeseburgers Cure Cancer." Even the National Enquirer would not publish these headlines!

THE BASIC RECIPE for DISEASE is THIS:

Too much animal protein = more disease
Too much sugar = more disease
Too much salt = more disease

Interestingly, mega corporations such as McDonald's have spent hundreds of millions of dollars promoting their high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar junk fare. Also, controlling weight is a matter of controlling calories. Controlling calories demands enough willpower to eat only when you are genuinely hungry. There is nothing magical about eating meat, dairy and eggs. One magazine's wonder diet is another publication's road to cancer.

The standard American diet is NOT preventing diseases, and it does NOT improve or cure ANY disease. Telling cancer patients to continue eating what they've been eating is very bad advice.

We already know from the Okinawa Study, the China Study and hundreds of other studies what the optimal diet is for humans. We know that humans are designed to eat a large amount of plants - not animal protein - and millions of people thrive on a vegan or vegetarian diet. Yet, some people tout the so-called Paleo Diet or the Atkins Diet as beneficial for humans, when the evidence shows that Paleo Diets and Atkins Diets are NOT producing the world's longest - lived and healthiest people.

In America, eating sugary, fatty foods is the great American pastime. Eating junk food has become a virtual secular religion based on gluttony and hedonism as the goal of human life. Billion-dollar corporations saturate the American body and psyche with their fat-laden, artery-clogging, cancer-causing garbage fare which is helping to create epidemics of arthritis, cancer, heart disease, strokes, etc.

Considerable nutritional science is behind these therapeutic whole - foods and raw vegan diets. We know the value of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals that are abundant in these diets. Natural - medicine doctors have known for decades that extra amounts of vitamins and minerals far exceeding the so -  called RDA can have powerful preventive and healing effects with minimal side effects, especially when compared to synthetic drugs.

Bad luck or accidents are not the reasons that people develop chronic degenerative diseases, rather, these conditions are earned through years of poor dietary habits and poor nutrition. Consider too, the long-term effects of smoking or exposure to environmental toxins and the source of common diseases is less of a mystery.

Yet, these serious, debilitating illnesses can be reversed. Joel Fuhrman M.D. writes in his book "Fasting and Eating for Health" that he has helped hundreds of patients recover from serious, degenerative diseases by fasting and eating a healthy, low-fat vegan diet. Joel Fuhrman's book should be read and thoroughly digested by all medical doctors and serious laymen.
 
Dr. Dean Ornish mentions in the book "Breast Cancer - Beyond Convention" that "incidences of clinically significant prostate, breast and colon cancers are much lower in parts of the world that eat a predominately low-fat, whole-foods, plant-based diet. Subgroups of people in the United States who eat this diet also have much lower rates of these cancers than those who eat a typical American diet."

Despite increasingly sophisticated methods of diagnosis and treatment, our so-called "War on Cancer" is being lost; cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the United States. The War on Cancer and other degenerative diseases is being lost because the standard American diet is more powerful at creating disease than medical science is at curing it.

We all know that obesity is a national epidemic which is fueled by ceaseless TV commercials reminding us of the joys of gluttony. Where are the commercials reminding us of the health hazards of these foods? Some of these "foods" are so dangerous they should be served with a warning label.

Early detection, surgery and radiation can be very effective treatments against cancer, but they cannot prevent a reoccurrence of the disease, which is quite common. A true cure consists of correcting the underlying causes of the cancer using proper diet, lifestyle and nutrition. And standard medical treatments cannot reverse conditions that are operating concurrently with cancer. For that, a holistic approach is needed.

Actually, few if any diseases, can really be cured by modern medicine. It is a basic fact that drugs and surgery cannot cure disease. A true "miracle drug" would be one with no side effect, and that miracle has yet to occur. All drugs are basically toxins that when injested will accumulate in the body. But a healthy, low-fat vegan diet can allow the body to heal itself because the proper healing environment is created and all obstacles to healing are removed.

Symptoms may be relieved, pain diminished, and offending body parts removed, but the underlying causes of the disease must be addressed for a true cure to occur. Holistic medicine does not view cancer as a localized, foreign invader as much as it is the body's attempt to localize toxins resulting from poor diet, wrong lifestyle and/or a toxic environment.

Cancer and other serious, degenerative diseases are at epidemic proportions because people are not living in harmony with natural laws of diet and healthy living. Eating greasy- fried double bacon cheeseburgers, French fries, double-layer pizzas, ice cream, fried chicken and more has mass appeal, which is why we have massive amounts of disease. It is no great secret that the American diet is highly toxic.

According to Kevin Trudeau's book "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About," the so-called "war on cancer" is a fraud. The book states: "Consider that modern Western medicine has "searched" for the "cause" and "cure" for cancer and other degenerative diseases for well over 100 years and has failed miserably even though:

1.) The mission was entrusted to the "best" researchers in the medical, academic and industrial sectors.

2.) They have private and government contracts with huge amounts of money.

3.) They falsify research procedures, lie about results and cover for each other. Dr. Linus Pauling, PhD., twice Nobel laureate, called the war on cancer largely a failure.

The purpose and driving force of the pharmaceutical industry is to increase their sales of pharmaceutical drugs that treat ongoing diseases, and to find new diseases or rename old diseases to market their existing drugs.

The eradication of any disease inevitably destroys a multi-billion dollar market for prescription drugs as a source of revenue. Therefore, deadly toxic chemical drugs are developed to treat symptoms but not cure anything.

It's been known for at least a hundred years that a natural raw foods diet, colonics, fasting, vitamins and minerals can be used to cure, or at least improve, the majority of diseases. Pharmaceutical companies and the food industry control the media, and they absolutely do not want natural cures for any disease made known to the public.

Millions of people suffer from painful inflammatory conditions. Here again it is NOT meat, dairy and eggs to the rescue - it is fruits and vegetables. Anti - inflammatory eating can be boiled down to six simple rules:

1.) Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables - at least five servings each day

2.) Add flaxseed oil to your diet

3.) Eat very little meat, poultry, cheese, butter, and other animal products - or become a vegetarian or vegan.

4.) Take a multi-vitamin mineral supplement everyday

5.) Eat less

6.) Eliminate or at least decrease junk food intake

As if mountains of scientific evidence are not enough, we also have personal testimonies of people who have lived on a strict, whole-foods vegan diet. Paul Bragg was one such individual and in his book "The Miracle of Fasting" he stated that even though he was past 85 years of age, he could jog several miles, swim, and even perform difficult yoga postures while standing on his head! Imagine Robert Atkins performing such feats.

Robert Atkins himself had suffered a heart attack while eating one of his artery-clogging, fat-laden breakfasts on April 25, 2002. But he and his cardiologist said it was not diet related! Atkins was also clinically obese at the time of death. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that massive quantities of saturated fat and cholesterol will eventually wreak revenge on the human body. I'd like to see a single legitimate study showing that Atkins dieters are living long and healthy lives.

For some reason, the general public more readily accepts the reality of living - or dying - with serious, self-imposed diseases than it does in changing dietary habits. To become a junk food vegetarian is not the goal. Hundreds of healthy, tasty vegetarian and vegan recipes exist in books, magazines and on the Web. However, to reverse diseases a very strict low-fat, healthy vegan diet is required, although depending on the condition, some people eat a small amount of fish. Sometimes fasting is necessary, which will require expert supervision, depending on the severity of the illness.

Diseases among middle-aged and elderly people is the rule not the exception. The American Medical Association, the media, and most doctors have little appetite for natural healing methods that use diet and/or fasting, and this is a major disservice to the American public. Instead of reading about hundreds of people cured of serious, debilitating diseases using naturopathy, we have been saturated with articles about the Atkins Diet. Where are the studies showing us that Atkins dieters are living long and healthy lives? Where is the evidence showing us that meat and dairy are effective foods to fight cancer, heart disease, or any disease for that matter?

Fighting disease is not only big business - it is serious business. A wise person will reflect on what causes diseases to form and what foods are most effective at preventing or controlling these conditions. An ounce of prevention is worth at least a pound of cure.

- by Scott Palczak
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1.) DR. FUHRMAN - Smart Nutrition. Superior Health
https://www.drfuhrman.com/

2.) VEGAN DIETS: FIGHTING ARTHRITIS & CANCER http://scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/05/vegan-diet-alleviates-arthritis.html

3.) PETA PRIME: Can a Plant-Based Diet Cure Cancer?
http://prime.peta.org/2009/12/can-a-plant-based-diet-cure-cancer

4.) ANTI - CANCER DIET - by Dr. Richard Beliveau
https://www.richardbeliveau.org/en/cancer-prevention.html

5.) FOODS & ARTHRITIS - PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE for RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/foods-and-arthritis

6.) PHYSICIAN'S COMMITTEE for RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE - Resources for Health Conditions  http://www.pcrm.org/health/resources

7.) VEGAN DIETS FIGHT CANCER! - from the Huffington Post with Kathy Freston
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegan-diet-cancer_b_2250052.html

8.) DR. DEAN ORNISH: Undo Heart Disease with Ornish
https://www.ornish.com/participant-stories/undo-heart-disease-ornish-linda-participant/

9.) NINE NATURAL WAYS to LOWER CHOLESTEROL
http://www.betternutrition.com/9-natural-ways-to-lower-your-cholesterol/

10.) TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE: WHO REPORT on MEAT CAUSES CANCER http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/12/time-magazine-article-who-report-on.html

11.) FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD: Movie trailer and Joe's Fascinating Story http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015_11_01_archive.html

12.) Viva! Plant - based Diets & Cardiovascular Disease Fact Sheet 
http://www.vivahealth.org.uk/resources/your-health-your-hands/plant-based-diets-and-cardiovascular-disease-fact-sheet-online

13.) NEW YORK TIMES: THE MYTH of HIGH - PROTEIN DIETS - by Dr. Dean Ornish http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/the-myth-of-high-protein-diets.html

14.) PALEO DIET: DEAD LIKE a CAVEMAN
http://scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-end-of-dieting-in-progress-by-dr.html

15.) BEAT CANCER - A Book About Beating Cancer with a Vegan Diet
http://www.viva.org.uk/cancer-truth-last

16.) NATURAL NEWS: A vegan diet offers relief from inflammatory disease and reduces heart disease risk http://www.naturalnews.com/035797_vegan_diet_inflammation_heart_disease.html

17.) AN INSIGHTFUL VEGETARIAN ESSAY & MANIFESTO - by Supreme Master Ching Hai  http://scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/07/supreme-master-ching-hai-httpwww.html

18.) VEGAN DIETS REVERSE DISEASES
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/vegan-diets-reverse-diseases.html

19.) HEALTHY at 100 & THE CHINA STUDY
http://scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/06/live-to-100-by-john-robbins.html

20.) WALL STREET JOURNAL: IMPOSSIBLE BURGER is READY for its (MEATLESS) CLOSE - UP
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2016/07/wall-street-journal-impossible-burger.html
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HOT DOGS & PROCESSED MEATS RAISE RISK of CANCER - May 5, 2005

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A diet containing plenty of processed meats, like hot dogs and sausages, raises the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a large multiethnic study unveiled on Wednesday.

Researchers found that heavy consumers of processed meats - 40 grams a day or more - were 67 percent more likely to develop cancer of the pancreas than study participants with the lowest intake.

 In addition, a diet rich in pork and red meat - 70 grams a day or more - also increased pancreatic cancer risk by about 50 percent, according to the study.

Meat consumption has been linked to pancreatic cancer in the past, but study results have been inconsistent.

This seven-year study examined the relationship between diet and pancreatic cancer in 190,545 men and women of African - American, Japanese - American, Caucasian, Latino and Native Hawaiian descent.

It is believed that chemical reactions that occur during the preparation of processed meats might be responsible for the association.

The results were reported at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, California.
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