Red meat promotes immune response - what it can cause

For the first time, however, scientists feel that they know what causes the effect. The body seems to view red meat as a foreign conqueror and trigger a toxic immune reaction.

Researchers have always wondered how other mammals can eat a lot of red meat without negative health consequences.

Now they have discovered that pork, beef, and lamb contain a sugar that is naturally produced by other carnivorous but not humans.

This means that when people eat red meat, the body causes an immune response to outside sugar, producing antibodies that trigger inflammation, and eventually cancer.

In other carnivorouss, the immune system is not activated because sugar called neu5 Gc c' is already in the body. Scientists at the University of California have testified that rats that were genetically engineering not to produce Neu5Gc naturally developed tumors when given sugar to consume it.

This is the first time we have shown directly that, by imitating the exact state of humanity, spontaneous cancers in mice increase, said Dr. Ajit Varki, professor of central and molecular medicine and medicine at the University of California. The last human test will be much harder to achieve.

This work may also help explain possible links to red meat consumption with other diseases caused by chronic inflammation, such as arteroclerosis and Type 2 diabetes.

Of course, moderate amounts of red meat can be a source of good nutrition among young people. Hopefully, our work will eventually lead to practical solutions to this dilemma,” he added.

Red meat is a good source of proteins, vitamins, and minerals, but more and more research suggests that the excess amounts are bad for long - term health.

Health experts recommend that more than 70g be eaten a day, the equivalent of three ham slices, a lamb roll, or two slices of beef roasting a day.

A study published by Harvard University in June suggested that multired - meat diets increase the risk of breast cancer in women by 22 percent.

In 2005 a study revealed that people who had regularly eaten 160g of red meat a day were at a risk of 1/3 times higher intestine cancer.

The average person in Great Britain consumes 70g meat a day (88g among males, 52g among females), but 33 percent eat more than 100g a day.

Previous research suggested that a pigment in red meat could damage cell DNA in the mucosa of the digestive system.

The new research is published online on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. /Telegraphy/