The Endicott Enquirer News from the Southern Tier

Was Your Vegetarian Letter not Good Enough for the Post?

To the editor:

Think a small serving of meat each day is harmless? Think again. A new study from the National Cancer Institute showed that the more red and processed meat you eat, the greater your risk of developing a variety of cancers becomes.

In the study, the average red meat consumption was about 2.5 ounces of red meat per day for a person consuming the average 2,000-calorie diet. This study found an association between high consumption of red and processed meat and an increased risk for myeloma and colon, esophageal, liver, bladder and lung cancer.

The good news is that scientific studies also show that fruits, vegetables and other vegetarian foods can help prevent cancer. In addition, following a plant-based diet can help people trim their waistlines and maintain a healthy weight - another key factor in preventing cancer.

Jennifer K. Reilly
Washington, D.C.

Letters to the Editor - The Herald-Mail Online - News for Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia

Remind me why this was printed in the Herald Mail? I don't think anyone living in Washington DC is considering Hagerstown a huge media outlet for announcing National Cancer Institute findings. I would assume from this letter that your are a vegetarian and I would point out that humans are omnivores for a reason. We eat meat, we eat fruit and we eat vegetables because they all contain things we need. I bet if you ate oranges your entire life laced with all of the crazy pesticides they use you would have an increased risk of getting cancer too. I'm not a big red meat person, I prefer chicken myself, but people have been eating this for millennia and it hasn't seemed to kill off the majority of us yet.

Try taking a swim in the Anacostia and see what that does for your cancer risk and get back to me on whether I should worry about red meat.