 A recent update from the World Health Organization notes that (surprise, surprise) eating bacon, sausage and other processed meats can lead to a higher risk of cancer. Experts looked over decades of research and also decided that red meat was probably just as bad. For example, they said that eating 3.5 ounces of red meat per day raises the risk of colo-rectal cancer by 17 percent, while eating only 1.8 ounces of processed meat per day raises the risk by 18%. They estimated that 34,000 cancer deaths can be attributed to people who ate a lot of processed meats.
This isn't really a surprise. The American Cancer Society said way back in 2002 that diets high in processed and red meat might be the cause for 1/3 of U.S. cancer deaths.
The American Cancer Society announced their report back in 2002, and not much changed with American's diets. In fact, research shows that Americans are eating more processed meats today than back in 2002. We're not changing the amount of meat we are eating overall, the amount seems to be pretty steady.
I imagine this latest report will create similar non-action. In other words, there may be some additional hand-wringing, but those hands will probably still be grabbing for a hefty burger just as often as before.
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