Processed meat gives you cancer, but then so does everything else…

As a writer of a health blog, last week’s main health story really caught my attention. In case you missed it (and it may have just only been news in the UK) here is it in all its glory:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21682779
Processed meat ‘early death’ link

 To summarise – eating too much processed meat has been linked to early death rates and overconsumption of red meat (fresh or processed) is thought to increase the risks of contracting bowel cancer or cardiovascular/heart disease. It’s a complicated set of results that is a statistical analysis of a huge data set over a long period of time. It is important to note that it is not a medical analysis in that the actual link between the chemical make-up of processed meat and the body’s reaction to it, has not been found. It is thought that the salt and preservatives used in processed meat is the likely culprit.

There’s also a really nice commentary by one of my favourite bloggers here:
http://kelliesfoodtoglow.com/2013/03/07/thoughts-on-meat-plus-honey-miso-roasted-broccoli-and-wholegrains-salad/

In fact, I was going to reply to Kellie on her blog, but thought it was actually rather impolite to hijack her blog with my opinions (not that they differ much).

I should say at this point that this isn’t even new news as such:
http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2010/11/do-you-eat-processed-meats.html

As a parent and as an adult trying to live a healthier lifestyle, this story, whilst not a complete bolt out of the blue, is fairly shocking, not least of all because I am pretty sure that I, and possibly my children too, consume more than the recommended amount of processed or red meat some weeks. Certainly in the past, I know I have – I’ve had a ham sandwich every day at work some weeks and then tucked into a large plate of Chilli on an evening.