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Are Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts Putting Our Health at Risk?

January 13, 2005

To the Editor:

Are hot dogs and cold cuts putting our health at risk? Colon cancer and rectal cancer kill more than 50,000 Americans every year, and meat consumption is a major risk factor for this terrible disease, according to a major new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Eating just three ounces of red meat on a regular basis (one fast-food hamburger a day, for example) raises the long-term risk, researchers discovered. Processed meats are especially dangerous. Women in the study who ate just one ounce of processed meat— one slice of bologna, for instance—two or three days a week were 50 percent more likely to develop colon cancer.

Earlier studies have shown that even people consuming white meat, particularly chicken, have about three times the colon cancer risk of vegetarians. And, of course, vegetarians are far less likely to suffer other health problems, including heart disease and high blood pressure.

We have the facts. Now it’s time for action. For tips on how delicious vegetarian foods can help ward off disease, go to www.cancerproject.org.

Sincerely,

Jennifer K. Reilly, R.D.

Jennifer Reilly, R.D.
The Cancer Project


 

 

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