Study: eating cured meats can make asthma worse

Bad news, meat lovers: another study highlights cured meats as potential sources of health issues, especially for those with asthma or COPD. The study set out to investigate whether cured meats can make asthma symptoms worse, and the results indicate that is, indeed, the case. This is on top of carcinogenic factors associated with cured meats, also increasing one’s risk of developing various sorts of cancer.

The study published this week in Thorax looked at 971 participants over a period of seven years, and found that 20-percent self-reported experiencing worse asthma symptoms, something described by researchers as a ‘direct effect of cured meat intake.’ Not surprisingly, cured meats were also observed to have an indirect effect on one’s BMI.

It’s yet another study highlighting potential health conditions that can develop or worsen with exposure to processed foods or otherwise altered foods. Earlier this year, for example, a study detailed the major health risks associated with processed foods and the possible reason for those health risks.

In that case, researchers identified pathogen-associated molecular patterns molecules found in processed foods that could contribute to the development of serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes. This bacteria was found in all sorts of processed foods, including ones as simple as chopped, packaged vegetables. The same wasn’t found for whole foods, however.