Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer & Processed Meats: Chemical Diet in a Chemical World

Eating meat is an American institution; but like many of the fallen behaviors through time, the meat eating in America and elsewhere in the world may soon have to take a back seat for your health. Many people think of hamburgers or steaks when they think of meat but many of these meats are indeed not 'chemically treated.' Unprocessed beef and processed meat are not at all the same thing. Processed meats are generally considered "meat preserved by smoking, curing, or salting or any meat continuing chemical preservatives such as nitrates." These processed meats may present a dangerous end for the individual looking to live a long and healthy life.

Processed Meats: Diabetes & Heart Disease: As reported on WebMD (1), a recent study "conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health," found that "eating one serving a day of processed meat - the equivalent of a single hot dog or two slices of salami - was associated with a 42% increased risk for heart disease and a 19% increased risk for diabetes."

Processed Meats & Cancer: Another study, as reported on MSNBC (2), done by the Gynecological Cancers Group at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia found a direct link for women who "eat a lot of processed meats, such as salami and hot dogs," and their risks for ovarian cancer. The same study found that women who ate fish have far lower risks for "the deadly tumors."

Processed Meats: What Are Their Effects: Colloquial wisdom had often led us down the path to believing that it was unprocessed red meats which were a big sticking point in the heart disease debate. However, according to American Heart Association spokesman Robert Eckel, MD, the correlation "...may not be that simple." According to this Harvard study, "processed and unprocessed meats contained similar amounts of fat and cholesterol, but processed meats contained, on average, about four times more sodium and 50% more nitrate preservatives than unprocessed meats." This leads to more salt, higher blood pressure, and greater risk of heart disease.

Processed Meats: Why Now: Much research has been done on this matter but it seems that the increased hidden dangers of chemicals in our meats is directly linked to our eating more meat! As the NY Times (3) wrote in 2009, "there was a time when red meat was a luxury for ordinary Americans, or was at least something special...not anymore. Meat consumption has more than doubled in the United States in the last 50 years." With all the preservatives which are included in meat and the absolute availability of it at all these 24 hour grocery stores, the real hidden danger of the chemicals in meat may simply be that they are more available and more processed than ever before.

(1) http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20100517/processed-meat-linked-to-heart-disease-risks

(2) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36668680/

(3) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/health/28brod.html