TORONTO — Steak, cheeseburgers and milkshakes may be fighting for Public Enemy No. 1 status this week after a new study warned that meat and dairy are as deadly to our health as smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
But the decades-long research has garnered mixed responses, with health editors, doctors and even cancer organizations poking holes in the findings.
“Eating lots of meat and cheese in middle age is ‘as deadly as SMOKING,’” one British headline read; another: “Deli Dilemma — Meat and cheese linked to earlier death.”
Then came the backlash: “I can has cheezburger? Protein cancer risk overblown,” and “Debunked: Cheeseburger as bad as smoking.”
University of Southern California researchers say that they tracked a large sample of adults for over two decades in their research to find that animal proteins — think of meat, milk and cheese — made middle-aged subjects four times more likely to die of cancer compared to people following low-protein diets.
They say that four-fold increase in death risk is similar to smoking. The study’s press release even suggests that “chicken wing you’re eating could be as deadly as a cigarette.”
The study’s findings
About 6,300 Americans between 50 and 65 years old were followed for nearly 20 years. Protein-lovers were 74 per cent more likely to die of any cause within the study period than others who ate less protein. They were also several times more likely to die of diabetes.
“There’s a misconception that because we all eat, understanding nutrition is simple. But the question is not whether a certain diet allows you to do well for three days, but can it help you survive to be 100?” Dr. Valter Longo, lead researcher, said.
He told reporters that his research is pointing to biological changes in our lives: animal-based protein may be more harmful to us as we age.
“Almost everyone is going to have a cancer cell or pre-cancer cell in them at some point. The question is: Does it progress? Turns out, one of the major factors in determining if it does is protein intake,” he warned.
The backlash
But critics quickly chimed in: NBC News’ Today health editor Madelyn Fernstorm told readers to “relax” because “there’s actually very little valid information to back up the findings.”
Tom Sanders, head of nutritional sciences at King’s College London told the U.S. outlet that linking meat and dairy to smoking was uncalled for and dramatic.
“The comparison with smoking is really unwarranted in terms of the relative risks and the certainty of the adverse effects of smoking,” he said.
He pointed to the database the study used: the sample of 6,000 people selected was small compared to the size of the entire database, and it provides little information about their overall health, aside from age and self-reporting protein intake. In other words, factors like weight — if they were overweight or obese — smoking status, stress levels and socioeconomics status wasn’t taken into account.
There was also no distinction between animal proteins — some people could have been eating skinless white chicken breast or steamed fish instead of bacon and sausages.
“Sending out statements such as this can damage the effectiveness of important public health messages,” a nutrition scientist Gunter Kuhnle told reporters.
Cancer Research UK also took offense to grouping meat and cheese with tobacco, what it says is the biggest cause of preventable disease and early death in the U.K.
“Today’s media stories were triggered by an interesting but far from conclusive study,” the organization said.
In the meantime, Longo’s findings pointed to a trend most health experts agree with: plant-based proteins, such as beans, are great options. Rates of cancer and death weren’t affected, which is why the scientists pointed their fingers at animal protein as the main culprit.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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