(PRINTWORDS NEWS) All the red meat lovers in Britain are in for a dismal news this week with the government all set to issue a health warning asking Britons to reduce their consumption of red meat in a bid to improve their health.
A Government-commissioned report that is scheduled to be released later this week is likely to warn the Britons to decrease red meat eating habits in order to reduce the risk of cancer.
The Department of Health had asked the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) to evaluate the dietary advice on the intake of red meat as a vital source of iron.
Following the review, the committee highlighted that a reduced intake of red meat and processed products would lower the risk of developing colorectal cancer. “Although the evidence is not conclusive, as a precaution, it may be advisable for intakes of red and processed meat not to increase above the current average (70g/day) and for high consumers of red and processed meat (100g/day or more) to reduce their intakes,” the committee said in a statement that was released recently.
However, the recommendations of the panel is likely to leave the Britons in utter confusion about consumption of how much meat can be considered to be safe. The red meat lovers have been left all the more baffled in a wake of a recent research that says that nowadays most people consume healthy amounts of red meat which curtails the increased risk to the diseases.
The study which was put forward by the British Nutrition Foundation further noted that a vegetarian consuming cheddar cheese would gain seven times more fats compared to a person who eats a limited amount of red meat, which is also an important source of iron.
However, the World Cancer Research Fund has refuted the findings of the study and it advises people to limit the consumption of read meat to 500g a week. At the same time, the fund also warns people to stay away from processed meat which includes bacon, sausages, ham, among others.
Despite the findings of the new research, studies over the years have hinted that red meat accentuates the risk of developing bowel cancer, which affects as many as 36,000 people in Britain every year. Apart from being linked to other types of cancer such as lung, breast as well as prostrate, consumption of excessive amount of red meat has also been associated to cardiovascular ailments owing to its significantly high content of saturated fat.
According to the present guidelines, British citizens should eat 90g of red meat every day and should consider controlling the total amount of meat consumption only if it goes beyond 140g per day. However, the committee experts have reiterated that the current guidelines are just too moderate due to which more number of Britons are exposing them to increased risk of different kinds of health ailments.
