This Disturbing New Study Will Make You Think Twice About Your Love of Bacon

While we love tasty strips of bacon or cured meats on a charcuterie board, it isn’t surprising to report that these particular foods aren’t the best for our health long term. While they certainly are great once in a while, eating them regularly can increase the risk of a number of chronic diseases — and another recent study has proven this point even further.

According to the recent study published by The Lancet Planetary Health Journal, reducing intake of processed meats — like bacon, hot dogs, and cured meats — by 30 percent could end in fewer occurrences of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and fewer all-cause deaths in a 10-year period. What’s more, the study also found that a 30 percent reduction in unprocessed meats — like beef and pork — also reduced the number of occurrences of the same conditions.

To find this information, researchers evaluated data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, evaluating different scenarios using previous risk models, evaluating the disease outcome for survey respondents with reductions of 5 percent, 10 percent, 30 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent of processed and unprocessed meat consumption. Researchers concluded that a reduction of processed meat in one’s diet could “reduce the burdens of some chronic disease in the USA.” In terms of unprocessed meats, the study concludes that more research needs to be done before estimating the effects of reducing the amount of these types of meats in one’s diet.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has suggested a reduction in red and processed meats for heart health for some time now, given the way high saturated fat intake can increase the risk of chronic disease. One 2022 study even found that some chemicals (gut microbes) produced in the digestive tract after eating red meat could also be the reason for increased disease risk. The AHA recommends limiting saturated fat intake to only 13 grams a day.

What does it really mean to reduce your processed meat intake by 30 percent? The Cardiovascular Health Diet Index suggests keeping the average red meat consumption to no more than 200 grams a week, and processed meat consumption no more than 100 grams a week. To put this into context, a strip of bacon averages around 30 grams, so this recommendation advises limiting bacon intake to 3 or 4 slices a week max.