La carne rossa fa venire il cancro? Facciamo Chiarezza

Two slices of salami, a grilled steak, a sausage, boiled meat, a hamburger... and what about a roast? But can I eat them? Or do I risk getting cancer? Ever since the IARC—the International Agency for Research on Cancer—warned about the link between cancer and red meat—especially processed or processed meats like cured meats—sitting down at the table in front of a Florentine steak undoubtedly raises a certain amount of anxiety. So let's clear things up! First of all, red meat is a formidable source of protein, and we don't have to eliminate it from our diet. The important thing is not to eat too much of it every day: numerous studies have shown that those who eat a diet rich in animal protein, especially red and processed meat, have a higher risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, heart attack and other cardiovascular problems, obesity, and cancer. Regarding cancers, the risk increases especially for gastrointestinal cancers, such as colorectal and gastric cancer, prostate cancer, and endometrial cancer. The IARC has classified red meat as probably carcinogenic, and cured meats and cured meats as definitely carcinogenic. However, be careful: the IARC classification tells us nothing about the "potency" of a substance to cause cancer: smoking is a much more potent carcinogen than cured meats, so a slice of salami every now and then could reasonably have a lesser impact on health than a couple of cigarettes. There is much confusion regarding the significance of the IARC's decision to include red meat and processed red meat in Class 2A and Class 1 carcinogens, respectively. The decision was made after a careful review of available studies on the subject, but it does not mean that cured meats are always and necessarily more dangerous than fresh red meat. The carcinogenicity classification is not a risk classification, but a measure of the degree of confidence experts have in the data to be able to express an opinion on the carcinogenicity of a product. In practice, it simply tells us that studies on cured meats and sausages are of sufficient quality and breadth to allow us to conclude with less uncertainty that cured meats can increase the risk of disease, while studies on unprocessed red meats are statistically weaker and therefore only allow us to conclude that the association probably exists, but not certainly. Regarding white meats (poultry and rabbit), experts state only that there are no sufficiently reliable studies and therefore cannot express a view one way or the other, although knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that make red meat potentially carcinogenic (for example, the presence of heme iron) allows them to conclude that white meats (which generally contain very small amounts of heme iron) are likely safer. Furthermore, the IARC classification tells us nothing about a substance's potential to cause cancer. Many newspapers have headlined, for example, that processed red meat is "as carcinogenic as smoking." This is a misinterpretation: it is placed in the same category as tobacco—that of substances that are definitely carcinogenic to humans—because for both there is sufficient scientific evidence for experts to express reliable opinions. However, smoking is a much more potent carcinogen than processed meats, so a slice of salami every now and then could reasonably have less of an impact on your health than a couple of cigarettes.