High protein diet has similar cancer risks than smoking?!

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lamps1303
lamps1303 Posts: 432 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Thought I would share this with you as it both shocked and humoured me...

I was driving to the gym this morning when the news came on the radio. Apparently a study in America has revealed that diets high in animal protein, specifically red meat, eggs and dairy, increases the risk of death from cancer and diabetes fourfold in those under the age of 65 - almost as much as smoking?! :huh:

You can read a news article about the study here: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/04/animal-protein-diets-smoking-meat-eggs-dairy

I will continue to get 25-30% of my calories from protein...that is all.
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Replies

  • aarondnguyen
    aarondnguyen Posts: 270 Member
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    False. And this is not a peer-reviewed study.
  • MrsGraves1987
    MrsGraves1987 Posts: 162 Member
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    I saw this in the daily mail this morning too. I am just so confused :-(
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    That's fine with me. My protein comes from birds, fish, plants and nuts. I don't eat red meat and I can't tolerate eggs and dairy so I guess I'm good to go.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    I saw this just after I'd been trying to talk a friend into eating more protein lol
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    phd051809s.gif
  • OllyReeves
    OllyReeves Posts: 579 Member
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    Yeah I read this today too. Sounded a bit odd to me....But then the Guardian/Daily Mail both have a history of randomly naming stuff that gives you cancer, and then three weeks later saying it doesn't. It's all rubbish, I don't believe anything I read in either of those papers.
  • CMB1979
    CMB1979 Posts: 588 Member
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    *Study funded by "Live Vegan!" :-/
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    I saw this just after I'd been trying to talk a friend into eating more protein lol

    The title is misleading. I think they are not saying that protein is bad, just that certain sources MAY be problematic. Your friend should still eat more protein!
  • aarondnguyen
    aarondnguyen Posts: 270 Member
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    phd051809s.gif

    This. lol

    All jokes aside, please don't take anything at face value. Just because one "study" claims something doesn't make it valid. I'm in bed on my phone otherwise I'd show you plenty of studies that prove otherwise
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
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    The study is in no way conclusive, and the suggestion is only that high-protein in middle age *may* be problematic - the study even admits that low protein is likely to be a bad approach in later life. I wouldn't worry about it, on the strength of an observational, rather than experimental, study.
  • Froody2
    Froody2 Posts: 338 Member
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    Heard and read the same thing. The Australian study seems to draw quite a long bow with the conclusions they reached - increased lifespan and decreased morbidity with the high carb diet, from a study on mice. That's one hell of an extrapolation.

    Can't find the original study, otherwise I'd link.

    ETA: I've no doubt the study is legit, my concern is with the mainstream reporting it's received. I blame Rupert Murdoch lol.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Could be propaganda.
  • sdreed25
    sdreed25 Posts: 208 Member
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    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25158-i-can-has-cheezburger-protein-cancer-risk-overblown.html#.UxbihmQgGc1
  • Froody2
    Froody2 Posts: 338 Member
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    Found it!


    http://download.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdf/PIIS1550413114000655.pdf?intermediate=true
  • lamps1303
    lamps1303 Posts: 432 Member
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    The study is VERY questionable and it has not, and will not, deter me from eating a moderate to high protein diet. It just amused me when I heard it on the radio (I'm pretty sure I actually chuckled) so I thought I would share it with you all too.
  • lamps1303
    lamps1303 Posts: 432 Member
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    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25158-i-can-has-cheezburger-protein-cancer-risk-overblown.html#.UxbihmQgGc1

    :drinker:

    Love New Scientist!!
  • johnthomasmoore
    johnthomasmoore Posts: 59 Member
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    From the article:" I would urge general caution over observational studies, and particularly when looking at diet, given the difficulties of disentangling one nutrient or dietary component from another. You can get an association that might have some causal linkage or might not," said Peter Emery, head of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London.

    Geesh, lousy science reporting!
  • ingies2011
    ingies2011 Posts: 127 Member
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    This is Christine Cronau's response
    Sensational headlines! Meat and Cheese Linked to Earlier Death!

    Or, are they? Every few years, there is a new study that claims that animal protein is bad for us, but every single one of those studies has been faulty. Two years ago it was claimed that eating more meat caused more death from heart disease and cancer. But, when the study was evaluated, it showed that those dying earlier:

    —smoked more
    —exercised less
    —were more overweight
    —were more diabetic
    —were more hypertensive
    —ate more in general
    —ate less vegetables and fruit
    —ate more red meat

    Oh, there it is, thus, red meat causes cancer! Are they kidding?

    What about this latest study?

    Dr Longo said, "We provide convincing evidence that a high-protein diet, particularly if the proteins are derived from animals, is nearly as bad as smoking." Large claim.

    The study stated that in humans, higher protein intake is 'associated' with higher rates of diabetes related deaths. Because we know excess carbohydrates causes diabetes (biochemistry), the fact that we don't know what was being eaten WITH the protein is a huge flaw in a study with this type of conclusion.

    Also, were the diets of the participants carefully analysed over a long period of time to ascertain exactly what these people were eating? Ah, that would be a no. Nutrient intake was based on "food and beverage intake during a 24 hour period." What!?

    They also studied mice and claimed that mice on a high-protein diet "ate less and were slimmer," but had a "reduced lifespan and poor heart and overall health."

    Hmm. Mice are generally vegetarian. They have not evolved to eat large amounts of animal protein. Like comedian and health writer Tom Naughton says, "When investigators feed a diet to an animal that is completely unnatural for the animal, I don't care what the results are. I don't care if T. Colin Campbell can produce cancer in rats by feeding them an isolated dairy protein, because most rats don't milk cows. The ones who do don't have the technology to separate the proteins."
  • abbyoncloud9
    abbyoncloud9 Posts: 48 Member
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    If you are truly interested in this subject, I would reccomend the China Study by Dr T.Colin Campbell.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    This shows we have so much to learn and unlearn. Remember each calorie has the same value, forget one may come with vitamins minerals and other beneficial things whereas others are completely of anything but the white stuff. READ, THINK, UNDERSTAND, CONSIDER, SIT ON A FENCE OR ACCEPT OR DISMISS.

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