Can the Kind of Meat You Eat Affect Your Health?
Hold the bacon!
Think twice when you choose what to put on your plate. A new study by Renata Micha of the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating processed meats can raise your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Meats like sausage, bacon, hot dogs, and most deli lunch meats fall into this category. Eating unprocessed beef, pork and lamb may be a healthier option to consider.
The meta study, published in the medical journal, Circulation, focused on meats which were processed using salts, nitrates, smoking, and other chemical preservatives. When compared to those who consumed unprocessed meats, subjects who ate the equivalent of two slices of lunch meat or one hot dog were over 40% more likely to get heart disease and 19% more likely to have diabetes. Unprocessed red meats offered no similar risks, even though they contained the same amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol. A closer look at the contents of processed meats may offer a clue as to why. Processed meats contained 50% more nitrates and quadruple the amount of sodium found in their their unprocessed counterparts. Excessive sodium intake is associated with increased risks of stroke and cardiovascular disease.
James Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute has voiced his organization’s objections, saying that, “At best, this hypothesis merits further study. It is certainly no reason for dietary changes.” Yet, just last month the Institute of Medicine asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to update regulations on how much sodium can be added to food, citing the need for Americans to decrease the amount of sodium in their diet. Dr. Sharon Hayes, at the Mayo Clinic, has stated that a reduction of just ten percent could prevent over a million heart attacks and strokes each year.
With the majority of sodium in most Americans’ diets come from processed foods, it makes sense to look at processed meats as a potential means of reducing your sodium intake to healthier levels. Eating one serving per week or less of processed meats may be enough to lessen your risk, according to Micha. Doing so is likely to have extra health benefits. Most health experts recommend reducing your overall meat intake to enhance your health. People who eat less meat tend to weigh less, have lower cholesterol levels and a lowered susceptibility to some cancers. It seems that making the right choices about the meat on your plate can indeed help you live a longer and healthier life.
Written by Ernesto MartinezRelated posts:
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