There Is No Safe Amount of Processed Meat To Eat, According to New Research (cnn.com)
- Reference: 0178282086
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/04/1829219/there-is-no-safe-amount-of-processed-meat-to-eat-according-to-new-research
- Source link: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/02/health/processed-meats-sweet-drinks-disease-wellness
The [2]research , published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, examined connections between processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and trans fatty acids and the risk of type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and ischemic heart disease. People who ate as little as one hot dog daily showed an 11% greater risk of type 2 diabetes and 7% increased risk of colorectal cancer compared to those who consumed none. Drinking approximately one 12-ounce soda per day was associated with an 8% increase in type 2 diabetes risk and 2% increased risk of ischemic heart disease.
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/02/health/processed-meats-sweet-drinks-disease-wellness
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03775-8#author-information
Is there a safe amount of air to breathe? (Score:3)
The more you breathe, the more the risk of age-related illnesses increases.
There is, of course, no other factor other than eating the hot dog that can explain diabetes, and not, say, a poverty-based lifestyle.
It's the hot dog.
My dad lived to 99 on a diet of Chinese take out, frozen pizza, cold cuts, and beer.
He was slim and still active.
Re:Is there a safe amount of air to breathe? (Score:4, Insightful)
> The more you breathe, the more the risk of age-related illnesses increases. There is, of course, no other factor other than eating the hot dog that can explain diabetes, and not, say, a poverty-based lifestyle. It's the hot dog. My dad lived to 99 on a diet of Chinese take out, frozen pizza, cold cuts, and beer. He was slim and still active.
Ah yes... The "My grandfather made it to 100 drinking a liter of whiskey smoking 3 packs a day." argument. Some people get lucky. Most don't.
Re: Is there a safe amount of air to breathe? (Score:1)
Actually survivorship bias this time: nobodyâ(TM)s talking about their alcohol dad who died 30 years ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Those people are probably already dead too.
Re: (Score:2)
A lot of people in the early part of the previous century were born when census data was much more error prone. I wouldn't be surprised if your data only *really* lived to 97!
:-P
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s/data/dad/
rant: automatic text prediction rewriting is getting worse all the time. yadda yadda yadda.
Re: (Score:2)
> The more you breathe, the more the risk of age-related illnesses increases.
> There is, of course, no other factor other than eating the hot dog that can explain diabetes, and not, say, a poverty-based lifestyle.
> It's the hot dog.
Most people who aren't at or near the poverty line don't eat a hot dog daily. That's what people eat who can't cook and can't afford take-out food. So yeah, chances are, this correlation would go away if you adjust for other risk factors like poverty.
But I'm not willing to spend $33 just to confirm that. Nothing is more useless than medical journal articles that are locked behind a paywall.
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Even after decades of pretending to be a nerd, you're still dumb enough to think that studies published in top-tier journals like Nature might not have accounted for even the most obvious confounding variables.
There are reasonable reasons to be skeptical about this study, or any individual study. However, you didn't identify one; you just spewed some recycled anti-intellectual claptrap.
Re: (Score:3)
> Even after decades of pretending to be a nerd, you're still dumb enough to think that studies published in top-tier journals like Nature might not have accounted for even the most obvious confounding variables.
And in fact the article pointed out this out:
"It’s also important to note that the studies included in the analysis were observational, meaning that the data can only show an association between eating habits and disease –– not prove that what people ate caused the disease . They also relied on people recalling their dietary patterns, which can leave room for misremembering or misreporting, said Dr. Gunter Kuhnle, professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Reading in the
Re: (Score:2)
I got the [1] full PDF content in a viewer from this CNN link. [nature.com]
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03775-8.epdf?sharing_token=EwmASkuYUQ_wksA7vft209RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P8oSmKlEdMZZ8FJC_MYA76IigYXBfYRQ7nIr3haaEP8rVElDK5UhAe7heyp_FkjD0HO_7Z4v7D5E_c6dL8FZvJU-HKCRbkKqaNxwtf5Wj-GSpznJwa8hQTROgGbcEEAwmzj904T2jNhB3IkCYzyXt9Se148lMFaGUOfxGE01Xfjxvl79ECZqu45bCrYh2Xm4k%3D&tracking_referrer=edition.cnn.com
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> The more you breathe, the more the risk of age-related illnesses increases.
What control group was used in this study?
Correlation is not causality... again ffs (Score:5, Insightful)
The headline is not what the research says. The research says people who regularly eat industrial food are more likely to be unhealthy.
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The research literally says that consuming certain types of processed food increases likelihood of certain diseases because of the way the food ingredients affect the body; the data is confirming this and at a glance appears to be properly normalized to adjusting for other factors that aren't a subject of the specific causes.
The "correlation is not causation" mantra is only acceptable if the argument using it can provide another credible explanation. Your comment doesn't.
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Yeah, the headline 'no safe amount' reference is a clue. It's unlikely
anyone can identify 'safe amount' subjects. The headline term 'new research'
doesn't hold water either, this was a review of many old studies.
Correlation can mean that health issues cause diet, or diet causes health issues.
Neither is unlikely.
I just ran across How to Lie with Statistics the other day.
My hardback is first edition, 1954.
Maybe we should pay the copyright holder and train AIs on that text?
Re: (Score:2)
> Correlation can mean that health issues cause diet, or diet causes health issues.
Or both have a common cause.
Who's going to ... (Score:2)
... break the bad news to Joey Chestnut?
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So, about this...
Sumo wrestlers are extremely healthy and active, at a certain age. They eat extremely rich calorie-dense food to gain weight.
When they retire, the level of diabetes and weight related health issues skyrocket. You have to lose weight in Sumo after you retire or you will die young, in general.
Joey Chestnut is 41. I would wager my left nut that this guy will experience colorectal cancer or something else horrible when he gets to a certain age, unless he switches his diet up seriously.
When h
Well within the margin of error (Score:2)
An 11% difference in a study of self-reported food habits is inconclusive. For comparison, here is a graph [1]of different studies conducted on different foods [vox.com]. The numbers on the bottom of that graph are 2 = twice as likely, .5 equals half as likely. We routinely see effects that are much, much larger being within the margin of error. Quoting the article,
> the study "relied on people recalling their dietary patterns, which can leave room for misremembering or misreporting...Utilizing even the most sophisticated techniques does not really solve the problem that the information about diet is rather limited – which is obviously a big problem in nutritional epidemiology in general"
So you really want to see a much stronger correlation before drawing a conclusion. Eating hot dogs every day is weird. I have to imagine that someone who
[1] https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3523382/Medical_studies-05.0.png
A new study analyzing data from other projects? (Score:2)
People are getting paid for that? Because that sounds like an easy side hustle.
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> The research, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, examined connections between processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and trans fatty acids and the risk of type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and ischemic heart disease.
This important research shows that Trump is right - being trans causes all sorts of issues!
Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? (Score:3)
Homemade hamburgers!
It is the Fourth of July, after all.
One hotdog !?! (Score:2)
"As little as one hotdog daily..."
I LOVE hot dogs.
A hotdog EVERY DAY is not "little". OMG.
That's an outrageous amount of hotdog in your diet.
Is this study like the rats and saccharine?
Is it the food or being poor? (Score:2)
> Researchers analyzed data from more than 60 previous studies on the relationship between processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and trans fatty acids in a person’s diet and their risk of type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and ischemic heart disease, which reduces blood supply to the heart and cuts off oxygen and nutrients, according to the study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
3 variables? So which is it?...the sugar? the trans fats? the processed meat? What does processed meat mean? Hot dogs?...no problem...but what about tinned fish? what about smoked salmon? "processed" is a non-specific term.
I eat psychotically healthy. I am around people who eat like shit. I honestly don't see any correlation. I've had days where I was on vacation and ate like shit...again..no correlation. I didn't feel better or worse, beyond heartburn...which I honestly get more from eating he
What about not eating it daily? (Score:3)
Wouldn't the occasional gagger not kill you in your sleep?
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There's people that are convinced they need to eat meat three times a day at every meal.
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If the politicians really cared about illegal immigration they would start jailing the CEOs of the companies who employ them.
Immigration Reform [Re: What about not eating...] (Score:2, Interesting)
> Yes, the immigration system needs reform in the US. There had been unified parties in Washington for both Democrats and Republicans to fix it and they haven't.
There was a bipartisan immigration reform bill hammered out between Republican and Democratic Senators in 2024 and brought to the Senate for approval, the "Border Act of 2024."
After it was brought to the floor, it was opposed by Donald Trump (who at the time held no political office), because he didn't want immigration reform because he wanted to make it an issue in his campaign.
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> There's people that are convinced they need to eat meat three times a day at every meal.
So - 9 times a day? That does seem a bit excessive.
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That was my question too. Who eats a hot dog every day? Certainly not me, maybe one every week or two, at most. "No safe amount" seems a little over the top.
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> Wouldn't the occasional gagger not kill you in your sleep?
There's some usable truth in this article. However, "no safe amount" is not accurate because very few people eat these types of food daily. Also, talking about "processed food" is not useful because the term is not obvious. They call out sugar-sweetened drinks, so that's clear. However, what is processed meat? Smoked meats? Is cutting or cooking meat considered processing? Sausage, like all sausage, including fresh ground and stuffed? Cold cuts, like all cold cuts? Jerky? Spam?
The actual paper says: [Re:What about not eati...] (Score:3)
> There's some usable truth in this article.
Some. But the summary ignores this sentence from the [1]actual paper [nature.com]'s abstract (which is a meta study, not new data):
" These associations each received two-star ratings reflecting weak relationships or inconsistent input evidence , highlighting both the need for further research and—given the high burden of these chronic diseases—the merit of continuing to recommend limiting consumption of these foods."
To its credit, the actual paper also makes a point that this is a correlation, not showing causat
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03775-8