World Health Org tabs processed and red meats as carcinogenic

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. The fact is that anything eaten exclusively in high amounts can be bad for you.

This is very early research, which can never be fully relied on. It needs to be tested in other labs and in different conditions before it becomes a 100% reliable. The experts in the article themselves say its a small risk IF it does prove to exist.

I don't think you read the papers cited.

This is very early for them to make it official in a UN report. These things need to be researched in different locations and conditions for several years, before it can be declared with complete certainty to be a carcinogen. I wouldn't worry too much about it. The fact is, anything taken exclusively in large amounts can be bad for you... even water!

I don't think you understand how public health recommendations and epidemiology studies work either.

In what way would fiber intake increase risk? Too much time on the throne or not enough?

There's been some discussion that diets super high in fiber (I don't have a number) may increase enterocyte turnover to such a high degree that a mutation in the cell line gets brought about in the person's lifetime and subsequently increase risk of neoplasm. I'd wager the fiber/disease relationship looks something like a U, with really low and really high fiber intakes both being linked to higher rates of disease than the "optimal" level. I haven't seen much convincing data on this, however.