Eat to live, and not live to eat.
Anon
It is no secret that eating red meats may be harmful to your health. Red meat is darker-colored meat, as contrasted with white meat. According to the USDA all meats obtained from livestock (all mammals including pigs) are considered red meats because they contain higher levels of the pigment myoglobin than non-mammalian meats like chicken or fish.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have shown that red meat consumption could actually shorten your life. They found that one additional serving of red meat a day contributed to a 13% increased risk of dying, and an added daily serving of processed red meat (a hot dog or two slices of bacon) increased the risk of dying by 20%. A daily serving of red meat boosted the risk of heart disease death by almost 20%, and the risk of dying from cancer by 13%
Other medical research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that heavy consumers of red meat double their risk of developing colon cancercompared to those who eat little red meat. Although the study did not specify, I suspect that heavy red meat eaters probably have at least four times greater risk of colon cancer compared to people who have no red meat at all.
Research on total vegetarians (who consume no animal product) suggests an almost total absence of colon cancer in that group. As colon cancer accounts for 20% of all cancers, these research findings are very important. Other investigations also demonstrate the benefit of a plant based diet against several other cancers as well as other lifestyle related problems like diabetes and hypertension.