So while the secular self-flagellants go the “Meat-Free Week” route (and just when the hell is “Free Meat Week”, we’d like to know!), good news for those of us who choose not to abstain:
Earlier this month, researchers announced the results of a big new nutritional study in Europe that seemed to yield more evidence that processed meats like bacon and sausage can lead to an early grave. The media responded with the usual “Death by Salami” headlines. What news outlets downplayed about the study, though, is that despite their best efforts, the EU researchers couldn’t find any evidence that red meat will kill you. In fact, the study shows that not eating red meat is a risk factor for an early demise.
News outlets? Downplaying the truth in service of an agenda? Why, I never! But wait, it gets better:
After correcting some measurement errors, the researchers in Europe had to conclude that not only was red meat intake “no longer associated with mortality” but “all-cause mortality was higher among participants with very low or no red meat consumption.”
The government, public health advocates, and the American Heart Association have long warned Americans that overconsumption of red meat can lead to heart disease and other ailments. Yet the scientific evidence supporting this hypothesis has always been weak. And in fact, this month’s study isn’t the first to fly in the face of these assumptions. A large study in Japan also found no increase in heart disease deaths from moderate meat consumption as well.
Moderation in all things. Including moderation.
Prick With A Fork 
Somewhat related: Those Who Switched From Saturated Animal Fats To Polyunsaturated Vegetable Oils May Have Made A Fatal Mistake
” […] In 1984 Uncle Sam got involved – Time magazine reported on it in “Hold the Eggs and Butter” – and he made a big push for citizens to swap out animal fat in their diet for the vegetable variety and a great experiment on the American people was begun.
“Assuming the inferences drawn from the Sydney Diet Heart Study (~60% increase in risk of death by switching from animal fats to vegetable oils) apply to Americans and considering the population at risk of death from cardiovascular disease (~37% given recent NHANES data) we can’t think of any mass tort, or combination of mass torts, that has produced as much harm as the advice to change to a plant oil-based diet. Maybe some clever lawyer will find a way to use the tort system to quell the fervor of those armed only with a desire to do good and evidence of an association between something they don’t like and something else they don’t like [bolding mine – I like that point]. We won’t be holding our breath. But we will be hoping that those seeking to impose lean body styles and low salt diets on their fellow countrymen take a good long look at the polyunsaturated vegetable oil data before they order their riders to sally forth on the next crusade.”
#SCIENCE!
P.S. Link via the latest Food Round-Up at Cato’s “Overlawyered” blog