Biggest consumers of food such as ham, bacon and sausages are 44% more likely to die prematurely, according to new study.
A Bacon sandwich won't kill you; will it?
The study, which included data from 448,568 people in 10 European countries, including the UK, found that the biggest consumers of processed meat were 44% more likely to die prematurely from any cause than those who ate little of it. High levels of consumption increased the risk of death from heart disease by 72% and cancer by 11%.
If everyone ate no more than 20g a day of processed meat – about one rasher of bacon, chipolata sausage or thin slice of ham – then 3% of all premature deaths could be avoided, according to an estimate by the authors, led by Professor Sabine Rohrmann from the University of Zurich. Their results are published in the journal BMC Medicine.
The evidence that vegetarians actually
live longer is now very strong due to reduced incidence of
heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stoke and many
cancers.
The evidence implicating processed and/or red meat, and processed food more generally, in illness has been building up in recent years; and some of that has yielded similar findings to those reported widely today. Last year, for instance, the Harvard School of Public Health also linked intake of red and processed meat to a raised risk of death from cancer or heart disease and early death, as today's new study does,
In 2009 researchers from the US National Cancer Institute said broadly the same. And an evidence review by Harvard researchers in 2010 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/...) said processed meat produced a 42% extra risk of heart disease and a 19% increased chance of developing Type 2 diabetes for every 50g of it consumed. Diets containing a lot of processed food have also been linked to dementia, depression and other illnesses.
So while the evidence that meat consumption is bad for our health stacks up; the evidence that it is
disastrous(pdf) for our planet has also been proven. Listen to eminent Climate Scientist
James Hansen talk about eliminating meat consumption to combat climate change.
For those wishing to decrease or eliminate their consumption of meat for health, environmental and other reasons; join us at Meatless Advocates for additional resources and support on your journey.