Cancer: Red meat like beef and lamb could actually reduce risk of cancer, claims US researcher

Carnivores around the world will be celebrating new research that suggests red meat could be better for you than previously thought.

Research from the University of Chicago claims that a form of acid found in fatty red meats can help the body to fight off cancerous tumours. The trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) is found in the likes of lamb, beef and dairy products - and gives immune cells a boost against cancer.

The higher the levels of TVA in a cancer patient, the better they responded to immunotherapy, the study found.

Professor Jing Chen said: "There are many studies trying to decipher the link between diet and human health, and it’s very difficult to understand the underlying mechanisms because of the wide variety of foods people eat. But if we focus on just the nutrients and metabolites derived from food, we begin to see how they influence physiology and pathology.

"By focusing on nutrients that can activate T-cell responses, we found one that actually enhances anti-tumour immunity by activating an important immune pathway. To see that a single nutrient like TVA has a very targeted mechanism on a targeted immune cell type, with a very profound physiological response at the whole organism level - I find that really amazing and intriguing."

The new research also highlights the promise of this “metabolomic” approach to understanding how the building blocks of diet affect our health. Dr Chen said his team hopes to build a comprehensive library of nutrients circulating in the blood to understand their impact on immunity and other biological processes like aging.

With this reporter's medium-rare diet, I look forward to inviting you all to my 200th birthday.