Does Processed Meat Cause Cancer?

The World Health Organization this weekend classified processed meats and also red meat in general as cancer causing. It’s a dramatic blow to some of the most popular — not to mention delicious — food there is.

I can picture vegetarians celebrating their decisions, while those of us that eat red meat, myself included, will likely suffer another response. Perhaps we’ll ignore it, like the smokers that chose to continue doing what they enjoy despite clear health problems. Or, maybe we’ll swear off the meat, this news is enough to change our eating habits entirely. After all there should be nothing more important than our health.

Breaking Muscle have nicely provided a summary of the findings, while also critiquing them:

As with everything, there is some truth to the new claims. But the WHO needs to draw a line in the sand with its recommendations. Yes, the evidence suggests a link between processed and red meats and bowel cancer. But it does not state the magnitude of effect (I don?t believe they can use ?-ish? at the end of their recommendations.)

What we eat is a big part of our values, so people on both sides either celebrated or became defensive. Just remember to be skeptical and use common sense. There is always some truth to the hysteria, but there?s also a lot of misinformation.

Whichever reaction you chose, make sure that you’re well informed,?don’t judge the book by it’s cover. Check out the full post for all the details over on Breaking Muscle.