No safe amount of processed meats, sugary drinks, trans fatty acids, new study shows

Study: Processed meat, sugary drinks are not safe

A new study shows there's no safe amount of processed meat, sugary drinks or trans fatty acids that can be consumed. Jennifer Kveglis reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - A new study shows there's no safe amount of processed meat, sugary drinks, or trans fatty acids that can be consumed.

The backstory:

The study, conducted by Nature Medicine, analyzed the relationship between Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and colorectal cancer with processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks and trans fatty acids.

Dig deeper:

Processed meats include hot dogs, deli meat and bacon. The study found consumption of those products increased the chances of developing diabetes by 11% and colorectal cancer by 8%.

TGH Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Konstantinos Marmagkiolis said, "Whenever those meats are enriched with chemicals, what happens is those chemicals contain nitates, different compounds that we know from the past can change the DNA, increase inflammation, and some can cause cancer."

Fresh poultry like canned fish and fresh chicken are healthier alternatives. 

Sugar-sweetened drinks can include sodas and some juices. The study found they increase the risk of diabetes by 8% and heart disease by 2%. 

"The sweetened beverages, they should be exchanged for unsweetened beverages or juices that are not artificially-sweetened," he said. 

Trans fatty acids can be found in margarine and fried foods. The research indicates those items can increase the risk of heart disease by 3%. Mashed avocado and coconut oil are suitable replacements. 

"When those chemicals get into the body, they increase inflammation, they increase resistance to insulin and people develop chronic inflammation, it causes diabetes, increase in heart disease, clogs the arteries," he explained. "This is the beginning to heart attacks or blockages in arteries of the heart that we see in the hospital almost on a daily basis."