Community
Print
Eating just one rasher of bacon a day could increase the risk of dementia by 44 percent, a new study states.
Scientists from the University of Leeds Nutritional Epidemiology Group used data from 500,000 participants. Their results have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Risk of dementia
It found consuming just 25g of processed meat a day drastically increases the risk of developing the disease.
The study looked at UK participants aged 40-69 and how they consumed different kinds of meat. They had six options to chose from, such as ‘never’ and ‘once or more daily’.
Among the participants, 2,896 cases of dementia emerged over an average of eight years of follow-up.
Some people were three-six times more likely to develop dementia due to genetic factors. However, the findings show the risks from eating processed meat are the same… Regardless of whether a person is ‘genetically predisposed to developing the disease’.
‘A range of non-transmissible diseases’
Huifeng Zhang is a Ph.D. student from Leeds’ School of Food Science and Nutrition and lead researcher of the study.
Moreover, she said: “Worldwide, the prevalence of dementia is increasing and diet as a modifiable factor could play a role.
“Our research adds to the growing body of evidence linking processed meat consumption to increased risk of a range of non-transmissible diseases…
“Further confirmation is needed, but the direction of effect is linked to current healthy eating guidelines suggesting lower intakes of unprocessed red meat could be beneficial for health.”
