Scientists said on Tuesday they may have found a reason why eating too much red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer.
By studying cells from volunteers eating different diets, they discovered that red meat raises levels of compounds in the large bowel, which can alter DNA and increase the likelihood of cancer.
'It is the first definite link between red meat and the very first stage in cancer,' said Professor Sheila Bingham, of the Medical Research Council Dunn Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, England.
In earlier research, Bingham and her team showed there was a strong correlation between eating red and processed meat and the risk of colon cancer.
The chance of developing colorectal cancer was a third higher in people who regularly ate more than two portions of red or processed meat a day compared to someone who ate less than one portion a week.
Scientists may have found meat link to colon cancer:
