It’s Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. March is National Nutrition Month, too. Nutritionists at MD Anderson Cancer Center consider this a perfect time to suggest a new, healthier, approach to meal planning.Colorectal cancer, considered a very preventable disease, is the third most common cancer in Americans, causing the second largest number of cancer deaths each year. The American Cancer Society predicts 150,000 new cases will be diagnosed in America in 2008.

Using data recently supplied by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), MD Anderson’s Sally Scroggs, senior health education specialist, calls for switching the focus away from meat as the center point for a meal and focusing on plant-based foods instead.

AICR findings indicate that someone eating 18 ounces or more of red meat each week increases his or her chances of developing colorectal cancer by a significant amount. And for every one and one-half ounces over 18 per week, the risk of cancer increases by 15%. The compound that gives meat its red color, heme iron, is thought to be the link between red meats and colon cancer.

The US Department of Agriculture says the average American ate 36 ounces of red meat each week in 2006. Red meats are identified as beef, pork, lamb, and goat.

Scroggs suggests a reversal of typical meal planning, which usually involves deciding which fruits and vegetables will go with the meat-based main course. She suggests choosing the vegetables first and deciding which meat would make a nice accompaniment or side dish.

By limiting portion size to about 3 ounces of red meat per meal, the average person can safely consume red meat in six meals each week. Three ounces of cooked meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards.

AICR recommendations identify a healthy meal as one that is composed of two-thirds plant-based foods and one-third meat. The greater the percentage of plant foods, the lower the risk of colorectal cancer.

Processed meats are of special concern. Processed meats include bacon, sausage, pastrami, salami, even hot dogs - anything that has been cured, smoked, or preserved by salt or chemical additives. The risk of colorectal cancer is thought to rise by 21% for every one and one-half ounces of processed meats eaten.

Source: University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

• How significant is red meat diet in the development of colon cancer?