White Female Meat Eaters at Risk for Breast Cancer

A recent study conducted by the Cancer Institute of New Jersey is shedding light on the role of ancestry in women developing breast cancer. Responses from questionnaires completed by 976 black women with cancer and 1,165 without as well as 873 white women with cancer and 865 without revealed that white women who had a high intake of meat were at higher risk of contracting breast cancer than black women. Specifically, white women who ate the most unprocessed meat were at the highest risk, which rose with weekly increases of 18 ounces or more of red meat or seven ounces or more of poultry. Urmila Chandran, the study’s lead author, said the findings are in line with the American Institute for Cancer Research’s recommendation of limiting red meat intake to reduce the risk of breast cancer.