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Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

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Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#11
post #8
post #3

Also worth noting: The same "known carcinogens" list also includes birth control pills and sunlight. Not all carcinogens should be avoided.

And sure enough, the formally-respectable tabloid known as Ars takes the bait: http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/its-official-bacon-ho...

What do you mean by "takes the bait"? The headline is accurate - nothing there about "as bad as cigarettes" or any other hyperbole.

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#12

Kinda funny how hard some people try to reject a finding which is as well supported as it is obvious ... red meat is bad. Same logic applies here as with cigarettes - you decide if you want to take the risk. Beyond your personal consequences - meat and dairy industry is also directly destructive to the environment and society on a global level ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302820/ ). http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Anatu…

That has little to do with the linked article, which is only rejecting the bombastic headlines comparing the two.

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#13
For processed (cured) meats, they must assuredly mean sodium nitrite (which sodium nitrate turns in to) and/or salt is known carcinogens. In which case, it should be "sodium nitrite known to cause cancer".

Also, people should know that even "no nitrates/nitrites added" doesn't mean devoid of nitrates or nitrites, because most companies add tons of celery salt, and, for the most part, you end up with an equivalent amount of sodium nitrite in your processed/cured meats.

http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nitrites-added-hoax/

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#14
post #12

Kinda funny how hard some people try to reject a finding which is as well supported as it is obvious ... red meat is bad. Same logic applies here as with cigarettes - you decide if you want to take the risk. Beyond your personal consequences - meat and dairy industry is also directly destructive to the environment and society on a global level ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302820/ ). http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Anatu…

That has little to do with the linked article, which is only rejecting the bombastic headlines comparing the two.

Is it really that bombastic? Lot of people are smoking and will readily justify it with anecdotal evidance proving that smoking isn't really that bad at all - "you know there was this 105 year old Japanese guy and they asked him how he got that old and he said he stopped smoking at the age of 99 ..."

Furthermore - people need those "comparisons" - only few will change their behavior based on purely statistical reasoning.

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#15

My first thought was that the report is only talking about rectal and colon cancers, so yes diet might affect them as much as (or even more than) smoking. But that really isn't even close to to being a good comparison when discussing overall effect of risk factors: talking about the effect of smoking while only counting damage to the bottom end of the digestive system is like talking about the effect of drink driving…

No, the article draws an analogy between the impact of meats on colon cancer and the impacts of cigarettes on lung cancer. They are not talking about the impact of smoking on colon cancer.

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#17
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has little to do with the linked article, which is only rejecting the bombastic headlines comparing the two.

Is it really that bombastic? Lot of people are smoking and will readily justify it with anecdotal evidance proving that smoking isn't really that bad at all - "you know there was this 105 year old Japanese guy and they asked him how he got that old and he said he stopped smoking at the age of 99 ..." Furthermore - people need those "comparisons" - only few will change their behavior based on purely statistical reason…

The comparison is inaccurate, though. You're supporting being factually incorrect to scare people?

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#18
post #13

For processed (cured) meats, they must assuredly mean sodium nitrite (which sodium nitrate turns in to) and/or salt is known carcinogens. In which case, it should be "sodium nitrite known to cause cancer". Also, people should know that even "no nitrates/nitrites added" doesn't mean devoid of nitrates or nitrites, because most companies add tons of celery salt, and, for the most part, you end up with an equivalent amo…

[deleted]

Re: Processed meats as bad as cigarettes: bad reporting on good science

#19

My first thought was that the report is only talking about rectal and colon cancers, so yes diet might affect them as much as (or even more than) smoking. But that really isn't even close to to being a good comparison when discussing overall effect of risk factors: talking about the effect of smoking while only counting damage to the bottom end of the digestive system is like talking about the effect of drink driving…

From what I've read on /r/science eating 100g of the specified meats daily increases your risk of certain cancers by ~20%.

Compare with smoking, which increases the risk of lung cancer by 1,000-1,500%

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