Looking to Prevent Cancer? Limit Red and Processed Meat

We’re Iowans, and we love our time together by the grill. However, we need to be aware of the cancer risks associated with red and processed meat.

There’s strong evidence that eating too much red meat – and even small amounts of processed meat – can lead to colorectal cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Red Meat

What does that look like? The AICR recommends that you should limit consumption of red meat to no more than 12-18 ounces weekly. Perhaps that’s three instances per week where you consume no more than 4-6 ounces of meat such as beef, pork or lamb.

Processed Meat

Processed meat is even riskier. The AICR recommends that you eat very little, if any. This would apply to things such as ham, bacon and hot dogs.

Re-Think Your Plate

What can we do? The AICR encourages you to re-think your plate by replacing these types of meat with safer options.

• Breakfast: swap out sausage/bacon
• Lunch: swap out processed deli meats
• Grilling: swap out hot dogs/hamburgers