00:00 Processed foods are increasingly under more and more of a spotlight, specifically with
00:04 regards to their effects on our health.
00:06 Now, experts weigh in on processed meats and which ones are the worst for us, as the World
00:10 Health Organization says those very foods cause cancer.
00:14 Dietician at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Human Nutrition, Kirsten Patruzzi, tells
00:18 USA Today, "Processed foods include more types of meats than you might imagine.
00:22 While any meat with chemical additives is certainly processed, by definition it also
00:26 includes any that have been fermented, cured, or smoked to increase shelf life or flavor."
00:31 Dr. Donald Hensroot of the Mayo Clinic also told USA Today that since red meat is already
00:36 worse for you than, say, chicken or fish, processed red meats could pose a greater health
00:40 risk as well.
00:41 And all of this lines up with an analysis by the International Agency for Research on
00:44 Cancer Working Group from 2015, which looked at 800 independent studies related to processed
00:49 meats from around the globe.
00:51 In particular, their findings suggested an increased risk for colorectal and stomach
00:55 cancer and that the more processed meats consumed, the higher the probability those cancers became.
01:00 But the question remains, why does it increase those risks?
01:04 Experts say that in the same way smoke can cause cancer in lungs, smoke preservation
01:07 methods can do the same to the digestive tract.
01:10 In addition, preservation chemicals such as nitrates and nitrites are often used in processed
01:15 meats.
01:16 Compounds more recent studies have shown can increase not just digestive tract issues,
01:19 but also increase the chances of breast and prostate cancers as well.
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