Is it me, or is there any food currently on the market more associated with guilty pleasure than bacon? I have known vegetarians who “sneak” bacon into their salads and fitness advocates who fall from grace after crossing paths with anything wrapped in bacon.
I would say that nothing brings Americans together like good old-fashioned bacon. Republican or Democrat. North or South. Fat or thin. Vegan or carnivore. America loves bacon. But sadly, bacon does not love us. It’s no secret that bacon is not the healthiest of foods, but a new study has found that the most fatal of all cancers is linked for the first time with the consumption of bacon.
According to the study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, a single serving of bacon each day (roughly equivalent to two slices) will increase your risk for developing pancreatic cancer by 19 percent. Consume two servings a day and your risk jumps to 38 percent.
Pancreatic cancer is a fairly rare illness and it is estimated that only 44,030 cases were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2011. Unfortunately, it is a particularly deadly cancer because it is often not diagnosed until it is in an advanced stage. Pancreatic cancer kills 80% of its patients in under a year.
In other fields of research, scientists have recently found a possible gene-link connection to inherited prostate cancer. If this field of study could be broadened to include an early diagnosis for inherited pancreatic cancer, it is possible that these numbers would improve. But in the meantime, health experts recommend avoiding bacon — sniff, sniff — and other other processed meats altogether.
Sources: MNN.com & British Journal of Cancer
