Reducing US adults’ processed meat intake by 30% (equivalent to around 10 slices of bacon a week) would, over a decade, prevent more than 350,000 cases of diabetes, 92,500 cardiovascular disease cases, and 53,300 colorectal cancer cases
https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2024/cuts-processed-meat-intake-bring-health-benefits
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>The researchers used data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national health survey to create a simulated, representative sample of the US adult population – a so-called microsimulation.
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>The team’s microsimulation is the first to estimate the effects of reducing processed meat and unprocessed red meat consumption – from between 5 and 100 per cent – on multiple health outcomes in the US.
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>They estimated how changes in meat consumption affect adults’ risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and death. The effects were evaluated in the overall population and separately based on age, sex, household income and ethnicity.
>Researchers also analysed the impacts of reducing unprocessed red meat intake alone and cutting consumption of both processed meat and unprocessed red meat.
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>Reducing consumption of both by 30 per cent resulted in 1,073,400 fewer diabetes cases, 382,400 fewer cardiovascular disease cases and 84,400 fewer colorectal cancer cases.
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>Cutting unprocessed red meat intake alone by 30 per cent – which would mean eating around one less quarter-pound beef burger a week – resulted in more than 732,000 fewer diabetes cases. It also led to 291,500 fewer cardiovascular disease cases and 32,200 fewer colorectal cancer cases
Paper: [Estimated effects of reductions in processed meat consumption and unprocessed red meat consumption on occurrences of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and mortality in the USA: a microsimulation study – The Lancet Planetary Health](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(24)00118-9/fulltext)
This seems to indicate that the average American eats the equivalent of 33 slices of bacon a week.
How exactly does it lead to diabetes. From what I understood that was primarily due to increased weight/obesity.
Careful. Old studies and propaganda against meat are simply false. Newer reseach:
A recent Harvard study found that red meat is not a problem. “An international team of researchers conducted five systematic reviews that looked at the effects of red meat and processed meat on multiple health issues, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and premature death.The researchers found low evidence that either red meat or processed meat is harmful. Their advice: there’s no need to reduce your regular red meat and processed meat intake for health reasons.” Oct. 1, 2019, in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Is canned chicken processed meat?
These the same people that say you should eat 200 carbs a day?
Look, I get processed is never good. Its best to have whole foods. Then again meats like beef are demonized so there goes a portion of the selection according to the experts. I much rather have someone sit down and eat some hot dogs before they sit down and pound down a box of mac and cheese.
What I would LOVE is instead start pushing being active. Make gym memberships cheap ( health insurance should be pushing this as this would motivate people more instead of a 45 dollar fee every month ). We are a society now where most people are lucky to get 6000 steps in a day. I know its hard for many as you work 8 hours and then have to commute which eats up at least 9 hours of your day.
I also do not like how they use the word “would” because you dont know. “Could” is a better word.
Also, who the heck eats 30 sliced of bacon a week?! That is close to 2 LBS of bacon. If your doing that then really you need to look at your diet because you have a lot more issues going on with that.
Who are these people eating this much processed meat?
Bacon is a less than once a month treat for me, sandwiches with deli cold cuts might be once a week, fast food is almost never. 85% of the meat I eat is various cuts of chicken and ground turkey I cook myself. 10% is various cuts of pork and beef I cook myself. The remaining 5% would probably fall into the process category.
Woah. It’s almost as if eating to stay alive is also allowing us to age and die. Shocker.
It would be interesting to see what the study concludes as to be processed meat vs unprocessed.
Careful, you’ll summon the angry carnivore Redditors with this one.
Doubt. I hate scattershot studies like this.