Processed meats are red meat and poultry products that have been preserved by smoking, curing, salting, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives. Examples of processed meat include hot dogs, sausages, bacon, and luncheon meats. Processed meat is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, and evidence also suggests it is associated with stomach cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen (meaning it is carcinogenic to humans), and red meat as a Group 2A carcinogen (meaning it is probably carcinogenic to humans).
However, more research is needed to understand how red meat and processed meats influence cancer risk. The increased risk may be explained by the iron and fat content in red meat, and/or the salt and nitrates/nitrites in processed meats. Additionally, when meat is cooked at high temperatures, substances are formed that may cause cancer.
Source - https://progressreport.cancer.gov/prevention/diet_alcohol/red_meat
Plants are poisonous
Source: Certain plants are poisonous.
…which is why we don’t eat the toxic ones. Red meat on the other hand…
That is a very good rule of thumb, hence why we don’t let kids eat whatever plant they find in the woods.
There are specific parts of specific plants that we have found to be safe. There are not specific red meats that we’ve found to be safe.
This pic is about meat in general not red meat.
There are specific parts of specific animals that we have found to be safe. There are not specific poison ivys that we’ve found to be safe.
Is the equivalent of what you’re saying.
To be clear, night shift work is a carcinogenic as red meat and is done by significantly more people.
Huh, didn’t catch the image just said “meat”. Yeah, that’s on OP.
That said, Group 2A is not a measure of how carcinogenic something might be, but how much evidence there is for it being carcinogenic. A single night shift might end up increasing your cancer risk by 10^-8 per year while a single steak increases your cancer risk by 10^-6 per year. Something in Group 2A may well end up being a lot more carcinogenic than anything in Group 1, we just don’t know yet.
I’m not your mom. If you want to give yourself cancer, you are free to do so. If you’re going to pay people to hurt animals then we have a problem, but that’s a separate issue.
I don’t disagree with the message that we shouldn’t eat meat, I disagree with bad arguments. No one that eats meat does it with the intention of hurting animals, they do it for nutrition. Not efficient nutrition, mind you, but still nutrition.