Many health-conscious individuals are reducing or giving up eating red meat.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines red meat as all meats from livestock and includes beef, pork, lamb and veal.

Dangers of red meat

CANCER: Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that heavy red meat consumers have twice the risk of developing colon cancer compared to those who consume small quantities.

Research on vegetarians suggests an almost total absence of colon cancer. Colon cancer accounts for 20 per cent of all cancers. Consumption of red meat is also associated with an increased risk of breast, prostate, pancreatic and stomach cancers.

HEART DISEASE: The saturated animal fat found in red meat contributes to heart disease and atherosclerosis. Most commercial cattle are fed grains and studies show this increases the amount of omega-6 fat in the beef and reduces the omega-3 fat. Elevation in omega-6 fats have been linked to heart disease and other health problems while omega-3 fats are beneficial for the heart.

CHEMICALS: Commercial red meat contains antibiotics, pesticides, hormones and environmental pollutants that tend to collect in the fatty tissues. These are absorbed into your body when eaten. Traditionally-raised cattle are fed or implanted with various drugs and hormones including oestrogen and testosterone to promote growth. Some scientists believe that human consumption of oestrogen from hormone-fed beef can lead to various cancers, precocious puberty in girls and falling sperm counts in our men. The routine use of antibiotics in cattle contributes to the dangerous problem of antibiotic resistant infections in humans.

PACKAGED MEAT: The chemical, sodium nitrite, is added to virtually all packaged meat products: breakfast sausages, picnic ham, hot dogs, bacon, salami, bologna and many more. This chemical is used to give these meats a reddish colour so they appear fresh. This ingredient sounds completely harmless, but when consumed, forms other highly cancer-causing chemicals, nitrosamines.

ACIDITY: Red meat is strongly acidic. Many holistic practitioners believe that chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes begin and thrive in an acidic environment.

EXCESS IRON: Red meat is high in haeme-iron, which is highly absorbable. Many meat eaters have too much iron and this promotes cancer development while spreading existing ones. Excess iron may also play a role in high blood pressure.

BLACK MEAT: Dietary danger exists with black meat. Grilled, barbecued and jerked meats contain cancer-causing agents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

When fire touches meat, the fat liquefies and drips into the fire vaporising it and creates PAH compounds in the form of gases that reattaches to the meat.

How to transition from red meat

Here are some suggestions:

Decide how many times per week you will eat meat or make some days vegetarian days.

Set a time, say three months, over which you follow this dietary change, then evaluate how you feel at the end of the period.

It is often useful, not essential, to do a cleansing of your digestive tract when you are changing your diet. Aloe vera with fibre supplements and colon cleansing are useful.

Experiment with tasty and nutritious vegetarian foods while making sure to consume adequate amounts of healthy protein. Soy protein shake drinks make an excellent meal replacement.

If you don't want to give up meats, eat fish, fresh organic poultry, and choose meats that do not have nitrates listed as one of the ingredients. Meats without nitrates are more perishable so eat them promptly before the expiration date.

You may email Dr Tony Vendryes at vendryes@mac.com or listen to An Ounce of Prevention on Power 106FM on Fridays at 8 p.m. The programme streams live on the Internet.