Eating this common food could take years off your life

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Nutrition, habitual possessed meat consumption can dramatically increase one’s risk for heart disease and even early death.

The McMaster University researchers behind the new report posit that weekly intake of as little as 5.3 ounces of processed meat is potentially harmful to one’s overall health.

However, unprocessed red meat and poultry did not appear to yield the same adverse effects.

Processed meat refers to any meat that has been preserved via curing, salting, smoking, drying, or canning methods. In the US, the majority of processed meat includes bacon, sausages, hot dogs, and salamis products.

The results were premised by The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study which began back in 2003 and included 134,297 participants enrolled from 21 different countries.

“In a large multinational prospective study, we did not find significant associations between unprocessed red meat and poultry intake and mortality or major CVD. Conversely, a higher intake of processed meat was associated with a higher risk of mortality and major CVD,” the authors wrote in the new paper.

The study’s authors tracked each participant’s diet and health over the course of ten years. In that time, they were able to draw several surprising conclusions about meat consumption and cardiovascular illnesses.

It was revealed that consuming at least 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of processed meat each week was associated with a 46% risk increase for developing heart disease.

Participants who routinely consumed this value evidenced a 51% risk increase for early death compared to those who rarely consumed processed meat if at all.

The PURE study is the first multinational analysis of both processed and unprocessed meat and their link to health across countries of all income levels.

Although further research will be needed to determine if low-processed meat-intake additionally carries adverse health effects, the new report encourages alternative sources for protein and iron.

“The PURE study examines substantially more diverse populations and broad patterns of diet, enabling us to provide new evidence that distinguishes between the effects of processed and unprocessed meats,” explains senior author Salim Yusuf, executive director of McMaster’s Population Health Research Institute.

“Evidence of an association between meat intake and cardiovascular disease is inconsistent. We, therefore, wanted to better understand the associations between intakes of unprocessed red meat, poultry, and processed meat with major cardiovascular disease events and mortality.”

It may be that some processed foods can be enjoyed here and there with minimal health consequences. As of the time of this writing, most health experts permit moderate consumption of canned fish, like salmon, and tuna, frozen fruits, and vegetables as well as all varieties of low-sodium canned beans.

“Processed foods aren’t a modern invention. They’ve been around since the first barrel of salt pork sailed across the Atlantic. They are convenient and give us access to foods that would otherwise perish in transit,” Healthline reports.

“Enjoy them in moderation, and use common sense. Check the nutrition labels to avoid anything high in fats, sugars, and chemicals you can’t pronounce. Be sure to make fresh, simple ingredients the focus of your diet. As long as fatty, sugary, or salty processed foods aren’t accounting for more than 20 percent of your daily food intake, it should be fine.”