Study connects bacon, premature death (PHOTOS)

According to a study published Thursday in the journal BMC Medicine, consumption of processed meats — bacon, sausage, hot dogs — in anything beyond extreme moderation may prove a fatal choice.

“Overall, we estimate that 3 percent of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20g processed meat per day,” Professor Sabine Rohrmann of the University of Zurich, who led the European Commission-sponsored research team, said in a press release.

The researchers, who studied almost half a million Europeans between the ages of 35 and 69, determined that processed meat intake had “significant associations” with causes of premature death, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

While reports have already shown red meat’s ability to cut your lifetime short, these findings demonstrated that moderate consumption of red meat — less than 9.9 grams per day — has a slightly positive effect on longevity. However, this involves eating a piece of meat about one-third the size of a small matchbook cover every day, or less than 3/4 cup ground beef per week.

Think you could give up processed meat in order to live longer? Or does a life without bacon seem too bleak? Check out the attached photos and then see how you feel.