On Mon, 4 Aug 1997, Grant Magnuson wrote:

> Todd Moody asked:
> > Does anyone have any idea why red meat consumption, in study
> > after study, seems to turn up as the main risk factor for colon
> > cancer?
>
> There is a strong link between our well being and carotenoids.
>
> Vegetable based diets which are high in carotenoids are associated with
> lower incidence of certain types of cancer.

Yes, but the data don't support the hypothesis that people are
not getting enough carotenoids because they are eating too much
meat, since even the occasional consumption of meat increases the
cancer risk substantially.

We can theorize that it is something in the meat itself, or
something else in the diet that is making people vulnerable to
something in the meat that otherwise would not bother them.

Now it could be that very few people are getting enough
carotenoids, but the carotenoid-deprived people who eat meat are
the ones who get colon cancer; the rest have other problems.

Todd Moody
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