Women who consume high amounts of red meat during early adulthood may have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, a new study suggests.

However, those who eat more poultry, fish, legumes and nuts may have a lower risk.

According to US scientists, to date, research has failed to find any significant link between red meat consumption and breast cancer. However, many of these studies have focused on the consumption of red meat later in life, so the scientists decided to look at consumption during early adulthood.

They assessed data relating to almost 89,000 premenopausal women aged between 26 and 45. All had completed a diet questionnaire in the early 1990s.

Food intake during adolescence was also assessed.

The women were grouped into one of nine categories depending on their red meat consumption, ranging from ‘never or less than once a month' to ‘six or more (portions) a day'.

For the purpose of the study, red meat included unprocessed red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, and processed red meat, such as sausage and bacon. Poultry included turkey and chicken and legumes included lentils, beans and peas.

During almost 20 years of follow-up, over 2,800 of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer.

The study found that those who consumed more red meat early on had a higher risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

Using a statistical model, the scientists estimated that women who consumed higher amounts of red meat in early adulthood had a 22% increased risk of developing breast cancer overall. Furthermore, each additional serving of red meat per day was linked with a 13% increased risk of the disease.

However, the scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health also found that women who consumed higher amounts of poultry had a lower risk of developing breast cancer.

If women substituted one serving of red meat each day with one serving of poultry, they reduced their risk by 17% overall, and by 24% after the menopause.

On top of this, if women substituted one serving of red meat per day with one serving of fish, legumes and nuts, they reduced their overall risk of breast cancer by 14%.

The scientists concluded that higher consumption of red meat in early adulthood ‘may be a risk factor for breast cancer, and replacing red meat with a combination of legumes, poultry, nuts and fish may reduce the risk of breast cancer'.

They called for further studies on this topic.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal.