Eating a slice of bacon a day increases your chance of catching dementia by 44%, study suggests

Eating processed meat such as sausages, bacon and hamburgers can dramatically increase your risk of developing dementia, new research shows.

The findings suggest that eating just one slice of bacon a day can increase your chances of developing the disease by an impressive 44%.

However, meat lovers need not despair, as the scientists who conducted the study also found that eating some unprocessed meats, including beef, pork and veal, can protect against dementia.

In the study, people who ate 50g a day of unprocessed meat were almost 20 percent less likely to develop the disease.

The research, from the University of Leeds, explored a potential link between eating meat and developing dementia using data from 500,000 people.

Professor Janet Cade, who oversaw the research, said: ‘Anything we can do to explore the potential risk factors for dementia can help us reduce the rates of this debilitating condition.

“This analysis is a first step towards understanding whether what we eat can influence that risk.”

The researchers investigated the links between eating different types of meat and the risk of dementia.

The team studied data from the UK Biobank database containing genetic and health information from half a million Britons aged 40 to 69 between 2006 and 2010.

This included the frequency with which people snacked on different types of meat, with six options from never to one or more per day.

Vegetarian and vegan diets were not looked at especially, but the study included people who avoided red meat.

In an average of eight years, there were almost 2,900 cases of dementia.

This was seen in people who were generally older, more economically deprived, less educated, more likely to smoke, less physically active, more likely to have a history of stroke and family dementia, and more likely to carry a dementia-related gene.

More men than women were diagnosed with dementia in the study.

Professor Cade said: “Some people are three to six times more likely to develop dementia due to well-established genetic factors, but the findings suggest that the risks of eating processed meat were the same, regardless of whether or not a person is genetically predisposed to develop the disease.

“Those who consumed higher amounts of processed meat were more likely to be men, less educated, smokers, overweight or obese, had a lower intake of vegetables and fruits and a higher intake of energy, protein and fat, including saturated fat.”

Meat consumption was previously associated with the risk of dementia, but this is believed to be the first large-scale study of participants over time to examine a link between specific types and quantities of meat and the risk of developing the disease.

Principal investigator Huifeng Zhang, a doctoral student at Leeds University, said: ‘Worldwide, the prevalence of dementia is increasing and diet as a modifiable factor can play a role.

“Our research contributes to the growing body of evidence that links the consumption of processed meat to the increased risk of a range of non-communicable diseases.”

There are about 50 million cases of dementia worldwide, with about ten million new cases diagnosed each year.

Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 70 percent of cases and vascular dementia about 25 percent.

Its development and progression are associated with genetic and environmental factors, including diet and lifestyle.

Ms. Zhang added: ‘More confirmation is needed, but the direction of the effect is linked to current healthy eating guidelines, suggesting that lower consumption of unprocessed red meat may be beneficial for health.’

The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Monday.