If you want to cut down on meat in your diet, processed meats - smoked, salted or chemically preserved e.g. hot dogs, bacon, polony and deli-type meats - are a good place to start.
High consumption of meat, but particularly processed meat products such as these has been linked to raised risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers.
Meat production also weighs on the planet - again, especially the production of heavily processed meat because more resources go into converting it from its original raw state to its final form on the supermarket shelf or deli counter.
- Olivia Rose-Innes, EnviroHealth Editor, Health24, July 2011