In 2015 - even "bringing home the bacon" is now a bad thing?

You know, as explosive a life as it has become in terms of mind-blowing new technology, instant global communication, and wild scientific/medical advances, I cannot help but feel that it used to be so much easier living in ignorant bliss. As in, living in ignorant bliss, rather than the non-stop and currently in vogue fussing over dying. People used to be able to live without all of the pulpit-hammering non-stop proselytising about how we are killing ourselves by living thereby facing imminent condemnation and death.

No, I am not talking about the Catholic church, though it sure sounds like it, but am instead referring to the never-ending barrage of information and lists shoved at us documenting how most of the things we enjoy are bad for us and will one day kill us. We mustn't smoke, we shouldn't go out in the sun, we best not drink, we cannot eat anything that tastes even remotely amazing, and even with all that, if we don't get off our backsides and run them up that hill, well, we are still going to die! 

I mean, how did people make it past even 50 in the good old bad old days, given how uninformed and under-educated they all were? Well, the answer is of course that people generally didn't live as long (and that may be not be such a bad thing for society), but I am not sure it was just the bad habits that caused that because it is largely modern medicine (and not the elimination of our bad habits) that today allows people to survive the cardiac disease and certain cancers with which bad habits are linked. 

As if life hasn't become unbearable enough, with us being informed that we should become greens-eating fat-free sugar-averse salt-detesting sun-intolerant slim, albino robots - we now hear the ultimate salt-in-the-wound claim that one of the most beloved foods on the planet, bacon, is a sure-fire killer that must be avoided at all costs! Are you kidding me?! On top of all the other nasty things we must cut out of our life, ruthlessly, bacon has now been added and may even be top of the list along with cigarettes?!

What?! Beam me up Scotty, or take me now, Jesus, depending on your preference! Yep, in a recent new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the agency announced that bacon, sausages, hot dogs and maybe even burgers, were as carcinogenic as cigarettes, which on the surface sounded like some grandstanding headline pulled from "Vegetarian Weekly" or some other hysterical rag. The shocking thing is - they are serious. 

It seems that processed meats in general, and bacon and sausage in particular, are laced with potent potential carcinogens that can be aligned with the likes of toxins such as asbestos or even arsenic, when it comes to ties to certain classes of cancer. Holy smokes! No, make that unholy smokes! Red meat in general appears to be quite evil, but if one simply must indulge in its sinful pleasures, then it's best to partake of fresh red meat; this has considerably less salt, fat and chemicals in it, and so is less toxic to us humans. The guys of "Mountain Men" are probably a lot healthier than us, then, living in part off fresh, unprocessed red meat. 

The cigarette reference definitely hits home when one considers that typically (but of course not exclusively) a majority of smokers who develop lung cancer have smoked for many decades and usually tens of times per day. The WHO implies that someone who eats even close to one sausage per day, increases their chances of getting colon cancer by as much as 20%! In almost hilarious fashion, by means of an alternative, the WHO states to "Eat beans, not meat." Now that's a tempting choice after a hard week's work when it's time for Sunday brunch - "Yeah you know what, I think I will forgo the 'All-American', just bring me the kidney bean cretons and the plain yogurt omelette, thanks!" 

There's been strong reaction from all sides to this life-changing earth-shattering news. Maybe it's a plot by aliens who know the soldiers of the world will never be capable of fighting for and saving the world, without a bellyful of juicy, tasty bacon?! Epidemiologist Tim Key of the University of Oxford did have some words of wisdom for us, published in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. 

“We’ve known for some time about the probable link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer. You could try having fish for your dinner rather than sausages, or choosing to have a bean salad for lunch over a BLT.”

How lovely. More beans. And I am pretty sure they don't mean Heinz Baked Beans, or Canadian Maple'n'Pork Beans, in a lovely salty, sugary, tomato and pork sauce! Naturally, the meat industry hasn't exactly taken kindly to the WHO report, and are fighting back with the type of vigorous accusations that are once again also reminiscent of the cigarette industry. 

“They tortured the data to ensure a specific outcome; people in countries where the Mediterranean diet is followed, like Spain, Italy and France, have some of the longest lifespans in the world and excellent health.” 

I thought it was us who were to be tortured by not being allowed to eat bacon, but Betsy Booren (VP of Scientific Affairs at the North American Meat Institute) thinks it is the data that were tortured! She did remind one and all however that the nations mentioned above use high amounts of processed meat as part and parcel of the Mediterranean diet, and that is associated with longevity. Ah, but they are allowed to drink red wine by the bucketload, so then as long as we drink red wine, we will all be fine?!

Like everything else in life, the message is of course about moderation. Do a little of a lot of things, and you will probably live, yet will still die. Do none of those things, and you will perhaps live longer, but miserably, yet still die. So why kill ourselves trying to live longer? It's all good. Just like it's all bad. Sugar is bad. Salt is bad. Sun is bad. Smoke is bad. Fat is bad. Alcohol is bad. Red meat is bad. Calories are bad. Even oxygen is bad! But we absolutely must breathe oxygen - even if the reactive oxygen species it produces via normal metabolism is bad  - so we got zero choice on that one. 

I tend to think that if even oxygen is bad (while still being good) for us, then what the hell, suck it in and get on with life. If oxygen leads to ROS production, which is at the heart of the aging process, contributing to both inflammation and disease, and yet we cannot live without it - what are we gonna do? Stop breathing? Go on a quest for another gas that may sustain life? Start swallowing vast quantities of antioxidants which we know don't work clinically? 

We are oxygenated, ROS-producing machines, and it's our several decades of inhaling oxygen and fighting the ROS that produces, which plays a large part in our living, aging and dying. With and without disease. So if getting your hands on a bacon and brown sauce sandwich after running up that hill for thirty minutes gives you a life-affirming and life-sustaining rush of dopamine and endorphins? I say go for it - but maybe just choose multigrain unprocessed bread for the sandwich, and no butter- we can't have it all, and some things are worth dropping if it means a weekly dose of beautiful back bacon! :)