Unprocessed Meat and CRC

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello Docs!

I was recently listening to one of Alan Flanagan’s Instagram stories about how unprocessed red meat is implicated in the pathogensis of colorectal cancer, particularly if dietary fiber is below 30g/day. He then recommended people try to limit red meat consumption to 2-3 servings per week. This got me thinking about my own diet and I was mostly curious to learn more about this: i.e. is 1 serving per day of lean red meat in a diet with 40+g/day of fiber worrisome for the development of CRC? For context I also tend to eat quite a bit of Greek yogurt, whey, chicken, and eggs for my protein sources. I trust Alan’s knowledge as well as the BBM crew, and was hoping I could get some more context/discussion about this important topic! If any more context or elaboration is needed I am more than happy to! I work in a family physicians office and am hoping to attend PA school in the future and would like to know as much as I can about this important medical condition for not only myself but my future patients.

Thank you!

2

Ryan,

I think it is difficult to gauge attributable risk from a single dietary factor to a disease that is multifactorial.

That said, 7 servings + of red meat per week would not be what I would recommend and in general, I agree with Flanagan here. I’m not sure how strongly either of us would be about this recommendation however, as total calories, fiber, fruits and vegetable servings, saturated fat intake, etc. would take priority (to me) over # of red meat servings per week.

-Jordan