Ladies, If You Love Eating Bacon, This One Is For You!

Mid-aged women consuming three rashers of bacon in a week are more likely to develop breast cancer, says a new study. The same happens with post menopausal women when they consumed 9 grams of processed meat in a week, equivalent to two sausages, says the University of Glasgow. This result has come to notice two years after the WHO warned that processed meat carries same amount of cancer-causing properties like cigarettes, arsenic and asbestos. This study analyzed 260000 mid-aged women and found that those who ate lesser than 9 grams of meat were 15% more likely to get breast cancer as compared to those who refrained from it.

When this was combined with 10 old studies including 1.7 million women as many as 40000 cases of breast cancer, it was found that processed meat consumption increases risk by one tenth, The Times reports.

However, the study published in the European Journal of Cancer revealed that no such link between the two exists in young girls. It is the most common form of female cancer in Britain which is responsible for over 55000 new cases and 11000 deaths each year. These are the most recent figures of 2014.

The number spiked by one-fifth in 1990 when a steady rise was witnessed in the ageing population due to lifestyle-related factors like obesity. Processed meat contains preservatives and has been cured and smoked in order to increase its shelf life. Scientists say that this is due to chemicals including nitrates and salt which can trigger tumour growth. Not only this, the haem pigment in red meat is also believed to be a cancer-causing agent which destroy DNA of the cells in digestive system.

It also failed to find a link between breast cancer and red meat. The WHO, in 2015, focused on a research which said that 50 grams of processed meat consumed in one day can increase bowel tumour risk by 18%. 50 grams is half a burger, two slices of bacon or ham and two meatballs.

Red meat has been classified as one grade lower than the 'probably' cancer causing agents, but officials say that there is not a very clear evidence of the same. However, the government said that they would not change national guidelines which stated that eating 70 grams of red meat in a day is safe. Stats reveal that this is the amount of red meat consumed by their general populous, one-third of which has more than 100 grams.

Traditional English breakfast includes two bacon rashers and sausages, which is 150 grams of processed meat, a whopping three times of the amount linked to cancer. However, a recent US study stated that women who lost half a stone were less likely to develop breast cancer. It was also found that losing over two stones would reduce breast cancer risk by one-third.