Eating a slice of bacon a day increases your risk of developing dementia by 44%, study finds

Eating processed meats such as sausages, bacon and burgers could dramatically increase the risk of developing dementia, new research shows.

The results suggest that eating just one slice of bacon per day could increase your chances of developing the disease by 44%.

However, meat lovers don’t need desperation, as the scientists who conducted the study also found that eating some unprocessed meats, including beef, pork, and veal, may protect against dementia.

In the study, people who ate 50g per day of unprocessed meat were almost 20% less likely to develop the disease.

The research, conducted by the University of Leeds, explored a potential link between meat consumption and the development of dementia using data from 500,000 people.

Professor Janet Cade, who oversaw the research, said: ‘Anything we can do to explore potential risk factors for dementia can help us reduce rates of this debilitating disease.

“This analysis is a first step in understanding whether what we eat can influence this risk.”

Researchers have studied the links between the consumption of different types of meat and the risk of dementia.

The team studied data from the UK Biobank database containing genetic and health information from half a million Britons aged 40 to 69 between 2006 and 2010.

This included how often people munched on different types of meat, with six options ranging from never to once or more times a day.

Vegetarian and vegan diets weren’t specifically examined, but the study included people who avoided red meat.

Over an average of eight years, nearly 2,900 cases of dementia have occurred.

This has been observed in people who are generally older, more economically disadvantaged, less educated, more likely to smoke, less physically active, more likely to have a history of stroke and familial dementia, and more likely to carry a gene linked to Madness.

More men than women were diagnosed with dementia in the study.

Professor Cade said: “ Some people were three to six times more likely to develop dementia due to well-established genetic factors, but the results suggested that the risks of consuming processed meat were the same, as one person is genetically predisposed to develop the disease.

“ Those who ate larger amounts of processed meat were more likely to be male, less educated, smokers, overweight or obese, had lower intakes of vegetables and fruits, and had higher intakes of energy, protein and fat, including saturated fat. ”

Meat consumption was previously associated with the risk of dementia, but it is believed to be the first large-scale study of participants over time to examine a link between specific types and amounts of meat and risk. to develop the disease.

Principal researcher Huifeng Zhang, doctoral student at Leeds University, said: “Worldwide the prevalence of dementia is increasing and diet as a modifiable factor may play a role.

“Our research adds to the growing body of evidence linking the consumption of processed meat to an increased risk of a range of noncommunicable diseases.

There are around 50 million cases of dementia worldwide, with around 10 million new cases diagnosed each year.

Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 70% of cases and vascular dementia about 25%.

Its development and progression are associated with genetic and environmental factors, including diet and lifestyle.

Ms. Zhang added, “ Further confirmation is needed, but the direction of the effect is related to current guidelines for healthy eating, suggesting that lower consumption of unprocessed red meat could be beneficial for health. . ”

The results were published Monday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.