No Butts About It: There's Cancer on the Lunch Line for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

It's bound to be the butt of some playful public awareness campaigns this month, but colorectal cancer is far from funny -- and it will take more than jokes to end the epidemic. The disease will kill more than 4,000 Americans during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month alone. It's the third most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

Why is it so ubiquitous? Because so are its causes. Of the many types of cancer, colorectal cancer is perhaps the one most strongly linked to diet. Consuming even small amounts of red meat (such as beef, pork, lamb and veal) and processed meat (such as bacon, sausage, chicken and turkey sandwich meats, hot dogs, packaged ham and pepperoni) substantially ups the risk of developing the disease. In fact, eating just 50 grams of processed meat daily, equivalent to two slices of bacon or one sausage link, increases colorectal cancer risk by 21 percent. Because the risk of cancer is so high, the American Institute of Cancer Research has warned that no amount of processed meat is safe to eat.

But processed meat isn't the only danger. Grilled chicken and other meats cooked at high temperatures also contain carcinogens called heterocyclic amines, which have been linked to colorectal cancer. Consumption of heme iron, found in all meats, is associated with increased risk as well. And diets high in any type of animal protein -- including unprocessed chicken, turkey, fish, eggs and dairy -- have been linked to a fourfold increase in risk of death from cancer. That means eating large amounts of animal products may be just as dangerous as smoking when it comes to cancer risk.

Study after study has substantiated the meat-cancer link. Unfortunately, public awareness of the risks of meat consumption doesn't yet reflect this overwhelming evidence. Meat-heavy dishes are still found everywhere -- just as cigarettes were two decades ago. They come standard at backyard barbeques, restaurants, kitchen tables, and, worst of all, school cafeterias. All the lunch line classics -- pepperoni pizza, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, ham sandwiches and meatballs -- are carcinogenic. As a result, cases of colorectal cancer are rising sharply in young adults.

As a mother and registered dietitian, I struggle with the thought that the vast majority of children eat foods that we know can give them cancer. Thankfully, this may soon change. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee -- a panel of our nation's foremost nutrition experts appointed to advise federal nutrition policy -- has finally caught up with the science. For the first time in history, they are urging us to protect our health by cutting back on animal products.

The good news is that we don't have to quit the cold turkey cold turkey. We can keep eating many of our favorite foods -- and allow our kids to enjoy them, too -- by switching from meats made from animals to meats made from plants.

Plant-based meats have come a long way over the past decade and regularly fool even the foodiest foodies in blind taste tests. Mouthwatering products such as Beyond Meat's beastly sliders and Gardein's barbecue wings combine the familiar savory, complex flavors of their animal-derived counterparts with spot-on meaty textures. Major retailers like Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Costco now carry an array of vegetarian meats, and some have even introduced their own product lines to meet skyrocketing consumer demand. These products have become so popular that they've drawn interest -- and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding -- from high-profile investors such as Bill Gates and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.

Unlike animal products, these plant-based meats have no carcinogens, no cholesterol and little to no saturated fat. What they do contain are cancer- fighting phytochemicals and fiber -- only found in plant foods -- which actually lower the risk of colorectal cancer. One study found that, compared with meat-eaters, those who replace meat with fiber-rich plant foods have an 18 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer.

It may be a long time before we wipe out this disease for good, but the solution is simple and delicious. This Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, protect your health with a plant-based diet.

Julieanna Hever, MS, RD, CPT, also known as The Plant-Based Dietitian and host of the television show What Would Julieanna Do? , is the author of The Vegiterranean Diet and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition, speaker, health and fitness expert, and lifestyle coach.