I'm never quite sure about what foods I should eat and what foods I should not eat. Sometimes I hear that fish is healthy and recommended and then I hear that I should not eat fish at all due to concerns such as mercury levels. It seems that opinion on certain foods -- like fish and carbohydrates and dairy items -- sways and changes, which leaves me uncertain about how I might approach my diet in the best possible way. But opinion on red meat seems to be getting more and more consistent -- as more and more studies indicate that red meat is associated with a variety of health problems. And now red meat appears to raise the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a Swedish report in the International Journal of Cancer. More than 61,000 women were studied for possible effects of meat, fish, poultry, and egg consumption. After 17 years, 172 of these women were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and researches say it's because of the red meat. I suppose this could have been a coincidence -- and these women were destined for their diagnoses regardless of diet. But researchers conclude that long-term consumption of red meat is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer -- one of the most deadly cancers that is seldom detected at an early, curable stage.
The good news from this study -- there does not seem to be a connection between pancreatic cancer and the consumption of fish and eggs. And the consumption of poultry may actually cut the risk of pancreatic cancer.
