Blame it on the Bacon

The anti-meat movement is at it again. This time, they are targeting the protein that makes everything taste better...bacon.

According to researchers, a daily rasher of bacon is associated with a 44% increase in the risk of developing dementia. This follows on from previous studies that linked meat eating generally with higher dementia risk.

While Bacon is specifically identified, the researchers suggest that all processed meats may be to blame. Say goodbye to the fritz (devon for you non-South Australians) and salami but don't kiss goodbye to the meat pie just yet.

You see, according to the fine print this is just a hypothesis and despite the alarmist headlines in the media, any increase in absolute risk is small.

The researchers even go on to say that processed meat consumers may also have a range of other behavioural factors that increase their dementia vulnerability. Things like smoking, family history, low education standards, poverty and genetics.

It all suggests that, despite the claims bacon has is not going to cause dementia. That's essentially a guess...like so much of what we are told is 'fact'.

At least one University medical expert was prepared to call it out.

We should not assume from this research that one rasher of bacon a day increases your risk of dementia by 44 per cent – it is simply impossible to demonstrate that in a study like this.

Clive Ballard - executive dean of medicine, University of Exeter

At various times we have been told carbs are good and then were bad. Coffee was a killer then moderate consumption could be a lifesaver. A diet heavy in grains was good for weight loss and then is a contributor to obesity.

We've had similarly contradictory reports about dairy, sugar, fruit, corn starch, soy, alcohol and almost everything else from mobile phones to wifi signals.

I don't know how much confidence we can have in the latest anti-bacon research but based on the history of the diet researchers, I won't be giving up my daily rasher any time soon.

I'll be joined by Robert Howard, professor of old age psychiatry at UCL who said:

Although the authors attempted to control for (other factors), they can never do this completely … male sex, less education and smoking were associated with both processed meat consumption and risk of developing dementia … As a doctor who works clinically with people with dementia and conducts research into treatments, the data wouldn’t persuade me to give up my breakfast bacon.

The research has been seized upon by the Vegan army as justification to push their cause. That's why, despite the fine print and details that really show this study can be ignored, the alarmist headlines are what is printed.