…Friend or Foe?
Can we ‘trust the science’ on this one? What are the dangers? What is the ‘right’ amount of protein to eat with cancer and what kinds of meat should we be eating?
The accepted science which we hear all the time is that red meat causes cancer! There is a wealth of research to back that up too but I have a big problem with almost all of it.
I will explain.
The problem is that in almost all the research on red meat and cancer, there is no differentiation between the meats consumed. (Ushna Momal et al., 2025). That means we have steak lumped in with smokey bacon, that is lumped in with processed meats (including all sorts of chemicals) and all these kinds of red meats are researched altogether. There is no mention of these animals being organically raised, and if you have read a previous article of mine, you will know that…
You are what you eat, eats.
…and these animals are highly likely commercially raised, eating grains and living in unnatural environments.
The cells that make up these meats are therefore heavily balanced to Omega 6 fatty acids which are pro inflammatory. Inflammation is a known driver of the cancering process. Not to mention whether the animal had any vaccinations, hormones, growth enhancers or antibiotics. None of these factors are variables in any of this research, it’s all just ‘meat’.
The bad stuff in these variable (processed) meat products are as follows:
PAH – Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
This is in the smoked meats. These carcinogenic compounds are present in car exhaust fumes, smoke from fires, smoked meats, BBQ foods (the black stuff) and the smoke that comes from the BBQ. In fact many of us are breathing in this stuff day in and out and what’s more, genetically many of us have mutations on our DNA that means we also cannot detoxify them well, so they may have a higher carcinogenic impact on us.
Side note: One of my specialist modalities is nutrigenomics which means I can tell you if your DNA stops you from detoxing properly and more importantly, I can tell you what you can do about it. If you want your own Detox DNA report and a chat with me about what that means for you then grab yours here.
In fact a number of people with cancer are actually missing an important gene called GSTM1 which is a leading producer of the master detoxifier called Glutathione. This can be really useful to know, because when you know better, you can do better (Maya Angelou).
Nitrates/Nitrites
All is not what it seems here. Nitrates have been demonised in the food world but when you dig into this more, it becomes a little murky. Chris Kresser has written a great article about this which you can access here.
Let’s break it down: Nitrates are abundant in our food. Beetroots, spinach and pomegranate are rich in nitrates. In fact beetroot juice is recommended for athletes in this study (Gallardo & Coggan, 2019). That’s because Nitrates help the body to make something called nitric oxide (NO).
Nitric oxide is what we call a vasodilator – it makes the walls of your blood vessels relax and when they relax, the blood vessels open up which allows blood to flow freely around the body, lowering blood pressure. This is great for athletes who need to get oxygen to their muscles and wastes out quickly (like lactic acid). It is also great for people who have high blood pressure, men who suffer with erectile dysfunction will benefit from more nitric oxide (viagra works in this way) and… people who cannot clear wastes away well from their tissues will benefit as it supports healthy detoxification.
Movement will lower your blood pressure too as well as avoiding stress.
There are also vastly more nitrates in a beetroot than a hot dog, so why all the drama about processed meats when the molecule is the same? (Patel, 2024)
The process is this –
Nitrates get turned into Nitrites (in saliva)
Nitrites get turned into Nitrosamines (in the gut)
Nitrosamines cause cancer … (they can)
Yes they can… that’s undisputed.
But there is more to it!
The healthy among us eat a variety of different vegetables. Those veggies contain nitrates which unavoidably are converted into nitrites in saliva as detailed above. Hopefully we are eating those veggies with meat in that same meal and that means the protein from the meat and the nitrite made in our mouth can be combined and converted in the gut into carcinogenic nitrosamines… these may potentially cause damage to your DNA which could lead to cancer.
But… if you are having a good amount and variety of (organic I hope) veggies, you are also eating antioxidants in that same meal. These will help various enzymes in your body (like superoxide dismutase) to neutralise that damage, to go in and repair that DNA. So it matters how you compose your meals.
In a healthy body, nitrosamines are much less of a threat.
But if you are scoffing waffles, bread, pasta, cake, and biscuits. If you are drinking mountain dew instead of water; if you are stressed out, avoiding vegetables, eating pesticide and chemically grown food; if you have been taking antibiotics for every sneeze and haven’t been getting enough movement, sunlight or sleep, then eating too many processed meats is going to be a problem.
In a way it’s the same as the old Bechamp/Pasteur debate, find out more about that here
The terrain is everything, the germ is nothing – Pasteur
Grass Fed Beef
How an animal is raised and what it is fed on directly impacts the nutritional content of the meat. Grass Fed Beef contains…
a significant amount of antioxidant vitamins (A, B, D & more), is rich in heart-healthy Omega-3s and CLA fatty acids (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) and also full of essential minerals. (Riverwatchbeef.com 2020)
The problem is that in the research where all the meat was ‘lumped’ into one, we missed the elephant grass-fed cow in the room.
Commercially grown animals and pasteured, naturally grown organic animals don’t produce the same quality of meat, period!
A really nice study that came out in the last few weeks showed that:
there is almost no high-quality evidence to justify any health concerns about red meat! (Teicholz et al., 2025)
Some researchers are now starting to bring in the nuance of distinguishing between grass fed premium beef and junky, chemically processed meats (as they absolutely should). One paper very nicely stated that while red meat is still associated with colorectal cancer, in fact it’s more the over consumption of meat (which we know is turned into glucose by gluconeogenesis – read on for more about this) and also the preparation of red meat since some processes cause carcinogens and others do not. (Barr et al., 2025)Subscribed
Gluconeogenesis
Having established that eating grass fed and organic meat is the way forward and as we all slowly put the saveloy back on the shelf. The next obvious question is, ‘how much meat do we eat?’
The answer is..
it depends…
What we know is that if you overeat protein, your body will convert the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) into glucose. Since we know that glucose is the primary driver of cancer, then this jumps right into the driving seat and off we go on the glucose/insulin train again.
We really need good quality animal protein, but we don’t want too much.
For most people actively cancering you are going to be looking at about 0.8g of protein for each kilo of your IDEAL body weight (not necessarily your current body weight). Please work with a health professional to set this.
People with glioblastoma can need a little more protein as do those who are recently post surgery. If you want to ascertain the right amount for you, since we all need a little more or less according to our levels of activity then you need to engage an integrative metabolic oncology nutritionist or naturopathic physician and work with them to set your own personal macros.
If you are working out a lot, you will also need a bit more protein. If you are running a ketogenic diet, you will know if you are overeating protein as your ketone production will go down (as you produce more glucose and therefore more insulin).
In short, while it depends how much we need, we often need less protein than we think and ladies, cancer or not, you need a little more as you get older too!
Eating animal protein for the complete array of essential amino acids, is very important for health maintenance. A ketogenic diet with a good ketone production will suppress the ability of cancer to utilise glutamine for tumour growth so being in a properly managed ketogenic diet with the best quality food you can afford, is key to your long term health.
Bibliography
- Anon (2024). Are Nitrates from Beetroot and Processed Meats the Same Thing? [Online]. 2024. Examine.com. Available at: https://examine.com/faq/are-nitrates-from-beetroot-and-processed-meats-the-same-thing/ (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
- Anon (2020). Comparing Grain Fed Beef vs. Grass Fed Beef | River Watch Beef Blog. [Online]. 4 March 2020. River Watch Beef. Available at: https://riverwatchbeef.com/2020/03/comparing-grain-fed-beef-vs-grass-fed-beef/.
- Barr, B. Levitt, D.E. & Gollahon, L. (2025). ‘Red Meat Amino Acids for Beginners: A Narrative Review’, Nutrients, 17 (6), pp. 939. [Online]. Available at: doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17060939 (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
- Gallardo, E.J. & Coggan, A.R. (2019). ‘What Is in Your Beet Juice? Nitrate and Nitrite Content of Beet Juice Products Marketed to Athletes’, International Journal Of Sport Nutrition And Exercise Metabolism, 29 (4), pp. 1–5. [Online]. Available at: doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0223.
- Teicholz, N. Croft, S.M. Cuaranta, I. et al. (2025). ‘Myths and Facts Regarding Low-Carbohydrate Diets’, Nutrients, 17 (6), pp. 1047–1047. [Online]. Available at: doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17061047 (Accessed: 20 March 2025).
- Ushna Momal Naeem, H. Aslam, F. et al. (2025). ‘Recent Perspectives on Meat Consumption and Cancer Proliferation’, Journal Of Food Processing And Preservation, 2025 (1). [Online]. Available at: doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/jfpp/6567543 (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
Main – Photo by Lukas
