Bacon...

1. Bacon sandwiches could 'kill'

Monday, April 16, 2007
dari:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=45453&in_page_id=34

Taste of health?

Preservative chemicals in bacon, ham and salami may harm the lungs in the same way as emphysema, say scientists. Preservative chemicals in bacon, ham and salami may harm the lungs in the same way as emphysema, say scientists. Frequent consumption of cured meats can almost double the chances of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the US study.

The disease, which includes both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is one of the most common lung conditions in the developed world. It may be the fourth most likely cause of death in middle-aged to elderly men.

In the UK, around 18% of men and 14% of women aged 40 to 68 are believed to have symptoms of COPD. The US researchers studied 7,352 individuals with an average age of 64.5. All had participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a major US health investigation conducted between 1988 and 1994.

Those who ate cured meat products 14 times or more a month were 1.93 times more likely to develop COPD as people who consumed none, the researchers found. They also performed more poorly in lung function tests.

Study leader Dr Rui Jiang, from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, said: "Cured meats, such as bacon, sausage, luncheon meats and cured hams, are high in nitrites, which are added to meat products as a preservative, an anti-microbial agent and a colour fixative."Nitrites ... may cause damage to the lungs, producing structural changes resembling emphysema."

The chemicals are thought to generate reactive molecules that produce structural damage to lung tissue. Researchers found that high consumers of cured meats were also more likely to be male, of lower socio-economic status, to smoke and to have low intakes of fruits, vegetables and vitamins.

However, adjustment for these risk factors did not significantly change the findings, published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "The observed association between cured meats and lung function was unlikely to be explained by potential dietary confounding factors reported in previous studies," said Dr Jiang.

Further studies of the link between dietary nitrite and COPD were needed, said the researchers.

2. Too much bacon 'leads to cancer'

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

dari:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=27117&in_page_id=34

Bacon cause lead to cancer, claim scientists

Eating too much bacon can lead to bladder cancer, scientists have claimed. A new study suggests that people who ate bacon five times a week or more were nearly 60-percent more likely to become ill.

Those who eat skinless chicken frequently had a 52-percent greater risk of the disease, Dr Dominique S. Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health reports. Some meat products contain nitrosamines, which are known to cause bladder cancer, Michaud and her team claim in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. But the studies that have attempted to investigate the meat-bladder cancer link have been small and most have not separated out the effects of different types of meat.

Michaud and her team looked at data for 47,422 men and 88,471 women participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Nurse's Health Study, respectively. Participants were followed for up to 22 years, during which time 808 developed bladder cancer. People who ate bacon and other processed meats frequently were also more likely to smoke and to take in more fat and fewer vitamins, the researchers found. They were also less likely to exercise.

The association between the total meat consumption and bladder cancer was not statistically significant. But those who ate bacon five or more times per week were 59-percent more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who never did. Also, men and women who ate chicken this often were 52-percent more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who never ate skinless chicken.

Compared with skinless chicken, cooked chicken with skin is known to contain a smaller amount of heterocyclic amines, carcinogenic compounds that form when meat is cooked at high temperatures, the researchers note.

The researchers suggest that nitrosamines, heterocyclic amines, or both are responsible for the health effects of bacon seen in the current study, but they note that their findings must be confirmed by other research teams before any conclusions can be made.