Red meat includes beef, pork, lamb and goat – foods like hamburgers, minced beef, pork chops and roast lamb.

As a rough guide 500g of cooked red meat is the same as 700g of raw red meat. To help you visualise how much this is, a medium portion of roast beef or pork is about 90g and a medium steak is about 145g (cooked weight).

Although eating a lot of red meat is linked to bowel cancer, it is a good source of nutrients including protein, iron and zinc, so it’s fine to include up to 500g a week as part of healthy, balanced diet.

Processed meat is meat which has been preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives. Examples include ham, bacon, pastrami and salami, as well as hot dogs and some sausages. Hamburgers and minced meats only count as processed meat if they have been preserved with salt or chemical additives.

Research has shown that eating processed meat can increase your cancer risk. As there’s no real nutritional need to eat processed meats, if you eat meat, it’s best to choose fresh, unprocessed meat.

How are red and processed meat linked to cancer? There is strong evidence that eating a lot of red meat is a cause of bowel cancer. One possible reason for this is that the compound that gives red meat its colour, haem, may damage the lining of the bowel. Studies also show that people who eat a lot of red meat tend to eat fewer plant-based foods, so they benefit less from their cancer-protective properties. There is strong evidence that processed meats are a cause of bowel cancer.

When meat is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives, cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) can be formed. These substances can damage cells in the body, leading to the development of cancer.

Here are some easy ways to eat less red meat and cut down on processed meat:

• Keep a few days a week red-meat free
• Add beans or pulses such as kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils. Use them to replace some of the meat in dishes such as chilli or bolognese
• Instead of bacon, chorizo or salami, try spicy chicken or vegetarian sausages

Do foods and drinks high in fat and sugar increase cancer risk?
It’s no surprise that foods and drinks that are high in fat or sugar tend to be high in calories. Eating too much of these foods or drinking a lot of sugary drinks can mean you’re more likely to gain weight because it’s easy to take in a lot of calories in quite a small amount of food. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of several types of cancer.

So, it’s a good idea to base your diet on unprocessed foods like vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and fruit – these foods are nutritious, filling and can help you stay a healthy weight.

High-calorie foods (also known as calorie-dense or energy-dense foods) include things like:

• Chocolate
• Crisps
• Chips
• Biscuits
• Fast food, like burgers or fried chicken

These foods can increase your cancer risk because you’re more likely to be overweight or obese if you eat a lot of them. Although you might have heard that sugar or fat is directly linked to some cancers, this isn’t the case. The main reason for cutting back on these foods is because they’re linked to weight gain.

There is lots of strong evidence that sugary drinks are not good for you when it comes to managing your weight. Sugary drinks include things like:

• Regular cola, lemonade and other soft drinks sweetened with sugar
• Energy drinks
• Squashes
• Milkshakes and frappes

Natural fruit juice also contains a lot of sugar, so it’s best not to drink more than one glass a day.

Fruit juice does count as one of our recommended 5 A DAY portions of vegetables and fruits, but it only counts once a day no matter how much you drink.

Sugary drinks are easy to drink in large quantities and are often available in ‘super-sized’ portions, but they don’t really fill you up even though they are quite high in calories.Tips for cutting down on high-calorie foods and drinks:

Watch out for processed foods. In general, the healthiest foods are those that haven’t been processed – this means they haven’t had extra sugar or fat added to them. Instead try to base your meals on vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and fruit.

Swap sugary drinks. It’s a good idea to stick to water or unsweetened tea or coffee whenever you can. There’s no strong evidence to link artificially sweetened drinks to cancer either, so diet drinks can be a good alternative too.