On Thu, 12 Oct 2000, Madeline Stratton wrote:

> I think it would be important to know what population these studies were done
> on, and most importantly, what other variables were present. For example,
> some studies have indicated that populations eating a low carbohydrate diet
> have much lower cancer rates. What if the poplulations in these studies
> consuming all that meat were also polishing off large amounts of soda, ice
> cream, chips, etc. along with their meat? The SAD comes to mind here.

Yes, but the point is if the population being studied is a SAD
population, but the colon cancer rate correlates mainly with red
meat consumption, then that suggests that it's the red meat and
not the ice cream or chips, that is the problem.

> The
> longest lived population in the world (ie, the greatest number of per capita
> centenarians) are the Okinawans, who eat fewer calories but a substantially
> higher fat level than their mainland Japanese kin. Although I do not know how
> much red meat they eat, a higher fat level would indicate to me that they are
> eating a good amount.

It's my understanding that they eat mostly pork.

> The key is caloric restriction, which so far is the
> only known way of extending maximum lifespan. I do not know what their rate
> of colon cancer is, but it seems to me that caloric restriction,
> scientifically proven to extend lifespan, would be the salient consideration.

I agree.  The Okinawans get only about 80% as many calories as
the mainland Japanese, who themselves eat considerably less than
Americans and Europeans.  I have no information about Okinawan
colon cancer rates, however.

Todd Moody
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