Surprised We're Not Dead Already

This is troubling:

Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20 years.

The study purports to have a great deal of precision about the risks of eating red meat and the rewards for substituting other foods:

adding just one 3-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat — picture a piece of steak no bigger than a deck of cards — to one's daily diet was associated with a 13% greater chance of dying during the course of the study.

Even worse, adding an extra daily serving of processed red meat, such as a hot dog or two slices of bacon, was linked to a 20% higher risk of death during the study. [snip]

Eating a serving of nuts instead of beef or pork was associated with a 19% lower risk of dying during the study. The team said choosing poultry or whole grains as a substitute was linked with a 14% reduction in mortality risk; low-fat dairy or legumes, 10%; and fish, 7%.

McDonald's Mushroom Angus Burger

The methodology that the researchers used will likely be scrutinized in the months ahead. Studies like this one, that are based on self-reporting and not direct observation, are often riddled with errors. Also, there could be alternative explanations such as maybe the people who ate red meat just ate more food, period, or maybe they died because they weren't as rich as the people who could afford to buy fish and exotic nuts.

I can already see what our nanny state masters will do with this study. First they took away our cigarettes. Next, they're going to take sugar out of our food. Well, they're going to have to pry that mushroom-covered cheeseburger from my soon-to-be cold, dead hands.