DEADLY BACON

Reading Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/12/148457233/death-by-bacon-study-finds-eating-meat-is-risky

1. Everyone loves bacon! But it's probably even worse for us than we realise. Red meats raise mortality risks by 13%, and processed meats (like bacon and hot dogs) raise it by 20%.

Moderation is encouraged if we want to continue eating meats. In addition, we can replace our steaks with poultry, seafood, and legumes, and cut down on our bacon consumption to "occasionally".

Theories for why this is so include iron reacting with preservatives to form carcinogens, and (damnit) direct contact with flames (i.e., BBQ).

The American Meat Institute Foundation, however, disputes this and says that there isn't a lot of inherent risk in consuming/making processed foods like bacon, with the argument that meat is needed anyway in the body, and that it's overconsumption of all foods, not just meat.

2. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

ilovebacon ...

Well, you know, whatever the mortality risk, the mortality rate will always remain steady -- at 100%. We're all going to die from something, and to be honest, I'd rather die from bacon than, like, drowning.

(And really, it's not news that bacon isn't exactly great for you.)

The American Meat Institute Foundation kind of makes me laugh, though. Yeah, you need the proteins from meat. You certainly don't need the preservatives they put in bacon and hot dogs though.

Well, what would you expect from the Meat Institute Foundation? I guess it is slightly unfair to single out meat as a risk factor for cancer and heart disease -- oh wait, no, it's actually not. Because it's, you know, a legitimate risk factor.