{"id":84,"date":"2026-05-01T09:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T09:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/?p=84"},"modified":"2026-11-07T14:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:38:46","slug":"okar-risken-for-cancer-nar-vi-ater-kott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/okar-risken-for-cancer-nar-vi-ater-kott","title":{"rendered":"Does Eating Meat Increase the Risk of Cancer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large pw-article-opening-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2250\" src=\"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health.jpg\" alt=\"Cooked meat with herbs\" class=\"wp-image-715\" srcset=\"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health-8x12.jpg 8w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<style>\nbody.single-post .entry-content>.pw-blog-section-title{box-sizing:border-box!important;width:100%!important;max-width:800px!important;margin:48px auto 19px!important;padding:0 0 12px!important;border-bottom:1px solid #e3e3e0!important;color:#171717!important;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif!important;font-weight:750!important;font-size:29px!important;line-height:1.26!important;letter-spacing:-.025em!important;}\nbody.single-post .entry-content>h2:not(.pw-blog-section-title){max-width:800px!important;margin:55px auto 20px!important;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif!important;font-weight:750!important;font-size:29px!important;line-height:1.26!important;}\nbody.single-post .entry-content>h3{max-width:800px!important;margin:35px auto 15px!important;font-size:23px!important;line-height:1.3!important;}\nbody.single-post .entry-content>p,body.single-post .entry-content>ul,body.single-post .entry-content>ol{max-width:800px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;line-height:1.82!important;}\nbody.single-post .entry-content>figure.pw-article-opening-image{max-width:1040px!important;margin:15px auto 35px!important;}\nbody.single-post .entry-content>figure.pw-article-opening-image img{display:block!important;width:100%!important;max-height:470px!important;height:auto!important;object-fit:cover!important;border-radius:5px!important;}\n.pw-post-en{display:inline!important}.pw-post-sv{display:none!important}html[lang^=\"sv\"] .pw-post-en{display:none!important}html[lang^=\"sv\"] .pw-post-sv{display:inline!important}\n@media(max-width:720px){body.single-post .entry-content>.pw-blog-section-title,body.single-post .entry-content>h2:not(.pw-blog-section-title){font-size:24px!important;margin-top:36px!important}body.single-post .entry-content>h3{font-size:20px!important}body.single-post .entry-content>p{line-height:1.75!important}}\n<\/style>\n\n\n>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading pw-blog-section-title\"><span class=\"pw-post-en\" lang=\"en\" translate=\"no\">What Does the Evidence Actually Say?<\/span><span class=\"pw-post-sv\" lang=\"sv\" translate=\"no\">Vad s\u00e4ger forskningen egentligen?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies processed meat as carcinogenic to humans and red meat as \u201cprobably carcinogenic\u201d. But is that the whole story? Does eating meat increase cancer risk?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IARC&#8217;s assessment has attracted criticism, partly because it relies heavily on observational studies in which it is difficult to separate meat consumption from lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, excess weight, physical inactivity and Western dietary patterns. IARC itself identified potential confounding factors as a significant methodological challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2019 review by NutriRECS challenged the simplified idea that red meat itself causes cancer. The researchers judged the evidence behind the associations to be of low to very low certainty. This does not mean that all forms of meat are risk-free, but it makes it difficult to equate unprocessed red meat with processed meat or draw strong conclusions about causation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Genus Homo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members of the genus Homo have probably eaten meat for at least 2.6 million years. This is supported by animal bones with cut marks and percussion marks, suggesting that early humans removed meat and broke bones to obtain marrow. But our more distant ancestors may have done so even earlier. Finds from Dikika in Ethiopia, dating back around 3.4 million years, have been interpreted as evidence of meat consumption and stone-tool use by Australopithecus afarensis, before the genus Homo emerged. This does not mean early humans ate only meat. They were probably omnivores, eating plants, roots, fruit, nuts, insects, small animals, carrion and occasionally larger animals. Meat and bone marrow nevertheless became important energy-rich foods, particularly during the evolution of larger brains and more sophisticated tool use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hunter-Gatherers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An important perspective in the meat-and-cancer debate is that humans have consumed animal foods for a very long time, and meat remains a central part of the diet of many contemporary hunter-gatherer populations. Among the Hadza in Tanzania, the traditional diet comprises five main food groups: meat (including the whole animal), honey, berries, baobab fruit and tubers. This is not a modern \u201cmeat-only diet\u201d, but a varied diet based on wild, unprocessed foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When meat is associated with cancer in modern studies, processed products such as bacon, sausages, ham and cured meats are often involved. It can also be difficult to separate meat consumption from the broader lifestyle: processed meat, ultra-processed foods, excess weight, alcohol and sedentary behaviour frequently occur together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eating the Whole Animal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Traditional hunter-gatherers eat meat from wild animals along with bone marrow, fat, organs, connective tissue and sometimes blood. In other words, they eat more than just muscle meat, making greater use of the whole animal. This provides a broader range of nutrients than a modern diet dominated by muscle meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Traditional hunter-gatherers have consumed wild animals together with their fat, marrow, organs, blood and other tissues. A clear example comes from studies of Australian Aboriginal hunter-gatherers, who made use of the entire carcass, including organs, fat deposits, marrow, blood and other parts. This differs from much modern meat consumption, which focuses on muscle meat such as fillets, mince and individual cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A nose-to-tail diet provides a more balanced amino acid profile and a broader range of fats, vitamins, minerals and other bioactive substances than a diet based almost entirely on muscle meat. It is therefore misleading to discuss \u201cmeat\u201d as though all meat were the same. Wild, unprocessed animal foods eaten as part of an active hunter-gatherer lifestyle are very different from a modern diet of processed meats, refined carbohydrates, seed oils, alcohol and sedentary living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Research on hunter-gatherer populations suggests that metabolic disease, obesity and cardiovascular disease are often relatively uncommon in these groups, even where animal foods are an important part of the diet. Cancer occurs but is often reported as a smaller share of deaths in such populations. This may be related to lifestyle, but also to shorter lifespans, competing causes of death and limited diagnostic access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Natural, unprocessed meat eaten as part of a nose-to-tail diet cannot be equated with processed meat consumed within a modern Western diet. Human history instead suggests that meat, organs, marrow and connective tissues have long been nutrient-dense parts of a varied diet, rather than foreign foods that inevitably cause cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion: Is Red Meat Itself the Problem?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once we distinguish unprocessed red meat from processed meat, the picture becomes much more nuanced. Cured meats, sausages, bacon and ham are modern processed foods that often contain salt, nitrites, compounds formed during smoking and other factors that cannot simply be equated with a piece of fresh meat. Grouping them mentally with game, beef, lamb or organ meats risks oversimplifying the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is also important to remember that humans and our ancestors have eaten animal foods for a very long time. Meat, marrow, organs, fat and connective tissue have been part of human diets for hundreds of thousands, and more likely millions, of years. If unprocessed red meat were itself a powerful cause of cancer, one might reasonably expect a clearer biological and evolutionary signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This does not mean unlimited meat consumption is automatically healthy or that all forms of meat are equivalent. But it does make it difficult to argue that clean, unprocessed red meat clearly causes cancer in its own right. Much of the evidence comes from observational studies, and associations can be entangled with other aspects of a modern Western lifestyle: ultra-processed food, alcohol, smoking, overweight, inactivity and low nutrient density.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A more reasonable conclusion is therefore that processed meat should be assessed separately from unprocessed red meat. Natural meat, particularly when consumed as part of a nutrient-dense diet including organs, marrow, fat and connective tissue, is very different from processed meats within a modern industrialised diet. Perhaps the real question is not whether \u201cmeat\u201d causes cancer, but which meat we mean, how it has been processed, what it is eaten with and the lifestyle in which it is consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In short, it seems fairly unlikely that unprocessed red meat on its own is a major cause of cancer. It is more reasonable to focus attention on processed meat products, ultra-processed foods, alcohol, smoking, overweight, sedentary behaviour and high consumption of modern vegetable oils, especially within diets lacking nutrient-dense, natural foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is worth remembering, too, that traditional hunter-gatherers rarely ate meat in isolation from other foods found in nature. Their diets often included fruit, berries, tubers, honey, herbs and other wild plants when available. In other words, the absence of ultra-processed food, refined oils and industrial products often went hand in hand with natural plant foods, fibre and polyphenols. The debate should therefore not be reduced to whether \u201cmeat\u201d is harmful, but should consider the kind of meat, the foods eaten alongside it and the wider lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Muscle meat is rich in essential amino acids such as methionine, lysine and the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, while skin, tendons, cartilage and connective tissue supply more collagen-related amino acids such as glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. Collagen is the main structural protein in connective tissue and has a different amino acid profile from muscle meat.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Skin, tendons, cartilage and connective tissue have a distinctly different amino acid profile, containing more collagen-related amino acids such as glycine, proline and hydroxyproline.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Organs such as liver, heart and kidney also supply complete protein, but their main distinction is nutrient density. Liver is especially rich in vitamins A and B12, folate, iron and copper; heart supplies protein and naturally contains creatine, carnitine and coenzyme Q10; and kidney provides nutrients including B12, selenium and iron.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>IARC&#8217;s assessment relied primarily on epidemiological observational studies. Its working group reviewed more than 800 human cancer studies; over 700 provided data on red meat and over 400 on processed meat. Most were cohort or case-control studies, meaning the findings must be interpreted in light of potential confounding factors such as smoking, alcohol, excess weight, physical activity and overall diet.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>NutriRECS (Nutritional Recommendations and Accessible Evidence Summaries Composed of Systematic Reviews) is an independent international group of researchers and clinicians focused on developing evidence-based dietary guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Bunn, H.T., Pickering, T.R. &amp; Dom\u00ednguez-Rodrigo, M. (2017). How Meat Made us Human: Archaeological Evidence of the Diet and Foraging Capabilities of Early Pleistocene Homo in East Africa. Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">de Heinzelin, J. et al. (1999). \u2018Environment and Behavior of 2.5-Million-Year-Old Bouri Hominids\u2019, Science, 284(5414), pp. 625\u2013629.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">McPherron, S.P. et al. (2010). \u2018Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia\u2019, Nature, 466, pp. 857\u2013860.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Pobiner, B. (2013). \u2018Evidence for Meat-Eating by Early Humans\u2019, Nature Education Knowledge, 4(6), p. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Gurven, M. and Kaplan, H. (2007) \u2018Longevity among hunter-gatherers: a cross-cultural examination\u2019, Population and Development Review, 33(2), pp. 321\u2013365.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Hao, J. et al. (2018) \u2018Amino acid composition in determination of collagen origin and assessment of physical factors effects\u2019, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 109, pp. 546\u2013552.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Norton, L.E. et al. (2025) \u2018Red Meat Amino Acids for Beginners: A Narrative Review\u2019, Nutrients.<br>O\u2019Dea, K. (1991) \u2018Traditional diet and food preferences of Australian Aboriginal hunter-gatherers\u2019, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 334(1270), pp. 233\u2013241.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Pontzer, H., Wood, B.M. and Raichlen, D.A. (2018) \u2018Hunter-gatherers as models in public health\u2019, Obesity Reviews, 19(S1), pp. 24\u201335.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Thomas, F. et al. (2024) \u2018Cancer as a global health crisis with deep evolutionary roots\u2019, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">USDA (2026) FoodData Central. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">VanOverbeke, D.L. et al. (2024) \u2018Nutrient Analysis of Raw United States Beef Offal Items\u2019, Foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">IARC (2015) Q&amp;A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat. International Agency for Research on Cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2018) Red Meat and Processed Meat. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Volume 114. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) klassar processat k\u00f6tt som cancerframkallande f\u00f6r m\u00e4nniskor och r\u00f6tt k\u00f6tt som \u201ctroligen cancerframkallande\u201d. \u00c4r det emellertid hela sanningen? \u00d6kar risken f\u00f6r cancer n\u00e4r vi \u00e4ter k\u00f6tt?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition-food"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pw-blog-meat-health.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":771,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickwahlberg.com\/sv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}