It all looks good until it isn’t. Oh, how we love our Crown Royal on ice, Nathan’s hot dogs…yes polish sausages too, crispy bacon, and pepperoni. But is it worth raising the risk of stomach cancer?
A new review finds alcohol, processed meats – such as hot dogs, ham and bacon – and excess weight all may raise a person’s risk of stomach cancer.
Further, the risk seems to increase as a person drinks more alcohol, or eats more processed meats or gains more weight, the review states. It was released by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund.
The review concludes that in the United States, about one in seven stomach cancer cases could be prevented if people did not drink more than three alcoholic drinks a day, did not eat processed meat and maintained a healthy weight. That’s approximately 4,000 stomach cancer cases every year.
“This is the first report to find strong evidence of these links,” said Alice Bender, head of nutrition programs at the cancer institute. “There are things we can do to lower our risk for cancer. There are choices we make every day that can make a difference.”
However, the report did not prove that these factors cause stomach cancer; it only showed an association.