How many of us eat and love processed meats, such as sausages and hotdogs? Have you ever considered the amount of processed meats you eat regularly? At today’s fast pace of life, it is inevitable, for many reasons, that we prefer food that has been processed rather than cooking from raw materials. Whatever the numbers and life situations may be, it is probably time to change. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that processed meat causes cancer and that red meat is probably carcinogenic too.

It has been long held that processed meat is generally considered unhealthy. Like many other foods we eat in America, processed meat contains many harmful chemicals that are not naturally present in fresh meat. However, it takes many years of research and epidemiological studies to establish the link and confirm the causal relationship between cancer and consumption of processed meat. You may wonder: ‘Ok, it causes cancer but so do many other things. How risky can it be? ’ Here is a piece of information just in case you are trying to find excuses to continue with your processed meat-heavy diet. There is an increased risk of cancer by 18% if you eat 50g of processed meat every day (just fewer than two slices of bacon). This percentage of increased risk is almost as strong as the link between smoking and lung cancer. A bit convinced now?

Consumption of both processed meats and red meats form an important part of the American diet. It would first seem absurd that such common eating habits could cause cancer, especially since red meat can provide important nutrients, such as proteins and iron. People are now aware of the risk but believing that it is actually true will take some time. Luckily attitudes always change over time, as history has already proven with smoking and lung cancer. Meanwhile, for those who are skeptic about this ruling at the moment, you may want to try to reduce the consumption of processed meats in particular, just in case it turns out to be true!

Finally, to conclude, here is a small note and perhaps a starting point for you. Processed meats include bacon, sausages, hot dogs, beef jerky, ham and salami. Red meats include beef, pork and lamb.

References:

http://www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/

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