▲ Professor Park Min-sun of the Department of Family Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital (left) and Professor Yoo In-sun of the Department of Family Medicine at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital
A study has found that the type of meat consumed, rather than the amount, is closely linked to the risk of death from specific cancers.
For men, a higher intake of red meat was associated with a lower risk of dying from stomach cancer, while for women, a higher intake of organ meats was linked to an increased risk of death from pancreatic and breast cancers.
A joint research team led by Professor Park Min-sun of the Department of Family Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital and Professor Yoo In-sun of the Department of Family Medicine at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital announced today (June 25) that they reached this conclusion after analyzing the relationship between the intake of different types of meat and cancer-specific mortality among 147,562 adults aged 40 and older (53,847 men and 93,715 women) who participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES).
The research team categorized meat into four types: red meat (beef and pork), chicken, organ meats, and processed meat.
Red meat, chicken, and organ meats were divided into four groups (quartiles 1 to 4) based on the amount consumed, while processed meat was classified into consumer and non-consumer groups. The team compared the risk of death from specific cancers after adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, education level, physical activity, and total energy intake.
The results showed that total meat consumption had no significant association with overall cancer mortality in either men or women.
However, when analyzed by meat type, different patterns emerged depending on sex.
Among men, the group with the highest red meat intake (the fourth quartile) had a 52% lower risk of dying from stomach cancer compared to the group with the lowest intake (the first quartile) (hazard ratio of 0.48).
This trend was particularly pronounced among men who were relatively lean with a BMI under 25 or who had a history of smoking.
Conversely, male consumers of processed meat had a 2.45 times higher risk of rectal cancer death than non-consumers.
For women, the group with a relatively high intake of organ meats (the third quartile) had a 2.57 times higher risk of breast cancer death and a 1.83 times higher risk of pancreatic cancer death than the group with the lowest intake (the first quartile).
This association was more pronounced among women who were 60 or older, had a BMI under 25, and were non-smokers.
The research team pointed to Korea's food culture as a background factor for why red meat consumption in men affected the risk of stomach cancer death.
They explained that most red meat consumed in South Korea is pork, which is often grilled rather than salted or smoked as is common in Western countries, leading to differences in salt exposure.
The team also suggested that the group with high meat consumption might have a relatively higher socioeconomic status, making them more likely to actively participate in stomach cancer screenings.
Regarding the potential link between women's organ meat intake and the risk of death from specific cancers, Professor Yoo In-sun of Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital said, "Organ meats such as liver and tripe can contain higher levels of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead than regular lean meat. It is possible that these substances, which accumulate in fat tissue, are released into the bloodstream during weight changes or the aging process, thereby exerting an effect."
The findings were published in the international journal of nutrition and dietetics, *Frontiers in Nutrition*.
▲ AI-generated image representing the analysis of the association between meat types and cancer types
(Photo courtesy of Seoul National University Hospital and Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Yonhap News)
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