red meat

While it's obvious that eating bacon in everything isn't a healthy choice, a new study isolates just how bad the link between processed meat consumption and heart disease and cancer can be.

The study, from BMC Medicine, tracked almost 450,000 healthy men and women between ages 35 and 69 during the 1990s through 2000s and found that the more processed meat the volunteers consumed, the higher their risk of death from heart conditions and cancer. Interestingly, the researchers did not find a significant link between eating unprocessed red meat and early death when they adjusted their data — but they did find that more than three percent of deaths could be prevented if the participants ate less than 20 grams of processed meat a day, specifically. The study found no link between early death and poultry consumption.

The current study is important because it not only tracked healthy individuals for many years, but it also attempted to isolate just how much eating processed meat affects your health, even if you're otherwise healthy and active. And since the study didn't find the same correlation between other types of meat (and in fact found a decrease in death risk in those who ate a little bit of unprocessed meat every day), it highlights the importance of eating fatty, nitrate-filled, high-salt processed meats sparingly.

So how much is 20 grams of processed meat? Less than an ounce a day — or one small strip of bacon, says NPR. The study's lead author suggests that people eat a pound or less of all types of meat a week (300-600 grams). For more on how to be a healthy meat eater, check out our tips here.

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Yes, pink slime is gross. No one wants to think about anything being in their burger except actual meat. But the huge controversy may be about more than just pink slime.

The biggest concern with pink slime is that we're buying (or eating) a product and we don't exactly know what it's made of, says Prescott Frost, a champion of sustainable agriculture and a rancher and producer of organic, 100 percent grass-fed beef.

"I’d have to say that the controversy over pink slime is a reaction to corporate farming, and the reaction is a natural one to our concerns about corporate farming and big agriculture," Frost says. "Every day we become more and more aware of their effects on our daily lives, whether it is the food we eat, the environment we live in, or the way we treat our animals."

Find out how to avoid pink slime in red meat after the break!

A strict vegetarian or vegan lifestyle isn't for everyone, but we can all benefit from eating less red meat. What's so bad about a few burgers, steaks, and bacon breakfasts, you ask? A lot, actually. Read on to find out why you shouldn't eat so much red meat.

You'll live longer: The number one reason to limit your red meat intake — you'll live longer. Studies have shown that regularly eating red and processed meats increases your risk of developing heart disease and cancer, in part because of the high saturated fat and cholesterol content. The newest study, released this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to link the amount of red meat you eat to your actual risk of death. It found that replacing just one red meat dish a day with a healthier protein choice like fish, legumes, or poultry reduces your risk of dying early by seven to 19 percent.

More reasons to lay off the red meat after the break.

With words like bacon, ham, and prosciutto associated with its name, you'd think pork would be pretty happy about its status in the food world. But this week, the Des Moines, IA-based National Pork Board announced its hopes to revitalize the protein's reputation by doing away with the famed tagline "The Other White Meat" in favor of a new slogan. The board will launch a new brand campaign in March 2011, after more than 23 years of using the well-known slogan, which it first aired in 1987 as a way to let consumers know pork had fewer calories than one might think.

However, according to Ceci Snyder, the Pork Board's marketing vice president, people have lost sight of the meaning of the phrase. In two decades, chicken has more than doubled in demand; meanwhile, pork sales have remained flat.

The National Pork Board maintains it won't completely drop "The Other White Meat" as a marketing tool — only that the line will no longer be the focal point of its campaign. "It did its job, for sure, back in 1987. It was phenomenal," Snyder said, but "we really need identity that catches people's attention. Being the (other) white meat is just blending into the background." Instead, the new campaign will focus on protein, and include a website overhaul.

"The Other White Meat" is such an enduring campaign that I think it'll be difficult to forget — and hard to top. What do you think of this risky move?

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