Beware the Hot Dog

Beware the Hot Dog

As Dangerous as a Cigarette?

As Dangerous as a Cigarette?[/caption]

I know, I love hot dogs too, and deli meats and all that good stuff, but read this article and you may think twice…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-barnard-md/processed-meat-cancer_b_919034.html

Studies have found a direct correlation between consuption of hot dogs and other processed meats like bacon, sausage, and ham and cancer.  Specifically colorectal cancer.  Directly from the article: “Every 50 grams of processed meat you eat on a daily basis (that’s about one hot dog) increases your risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent. And just as there is no safe level of smoking, no amount of hot dogs, bacon, sausage, ham or other processed meats comes out clean in scientific studies.”

The link between the foods and cancer is not definable to one single item, but think about this.  When we evolved, our bodies evolved based on the greens, fruits, and meats that were available to us.  Untainted, unmodified, unprocessed.  The food revolution that has occured in the past 100 years has led to an explosion of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cancer.  Personally, this is a risk I am not willing to take.  I want to be the first in my family to live past 100 years, and if it means not eating hot dogs and paying a little more for my food, well then it seems like a worthwhile investment to me.  You get what you pay for when it comes to food.  It’s not like buying an on-sale t-shirt from H&M that’s a good deal.  A “good deal” with food usually isn’t.  It means its 1) OLD, 2) SPOILED, or 3) BAD FOR YOU.

If you are what you eat, then I’m happy to be labeled as hippie-organic YES! Organic Market.  I’ve been made fun of more than once for eating raw bell peppers at work.

I’ll be smiling in the sunshine, riding my bicycle in my 80’s and competing in ultra-masters events.  It is unfortunate, but I won’t have much empathy for those careless enough to let themselved be labed BigMacs.  The warnings are there, you just have to heed them.  You always have a choice.