Hi. My name's Bacon, and I'm sad. Someone told me I'm bad.
[music]
So steak and bacon give you cancer? Great!
What the heck are we supposed to do with this news?
Well, there's three things we gotta remember.
First thing, remember that this is polarizing news. Some people love hearing this.
It's news they've been waiting for for a long time.
Meat eaters, on the other hand, hate this news. Why?
We as humans have a strong emotional connection to our food.
Food is in our culture. It is our culture.
Food is what we do with loved ones. For a lot of us, food is what we love.
So what happens when news like this is released?
Both sides gain strength.
Vegetarians will tout the data and the science in the study.
Meat eaters will say the study was bogus.
Facts and science aside, the issue is largely emotional.
When news like this is released, it fuels passion on both sides.
Overall, it's very polarizing.
Thing two. Remember the basics of what was said.
Okay, so who. And, actually it is WHO. The World Health Organization.
They're a collective of scientists from around the globe.
And they're so nerdy that they couldn't be subjective if they tried.
Their reports are issued in meta form. So kinda like Rotten Tomatoes, a meta movie critic.
They work independently, but report as a group.
So, what. What was said. Their report said,
with certainty, that red and cured meats causes colorectal cancer.
Yes, butt cancer.
Yes, butt cancer. That's right people. Butt cancer.
The how. Well, they're not exactly sure how it happens, but there are three theories.
Theory one is nitrates and nitrites in cured and processed meats.
This is the stuff that's a result of curing and preserving meat.
Theory number two is heme iron which is abundant in red meat.
And basically when it's inside of you, it creates a whole bunch of icky stuff.
And the third theory is high temperatures.
When red meat is cooked, a chemical is created that's known to give you cancer.
Okay, how much?
50 grams per day. That's basically one hot dog is enough to make a material impact.
So continuing on with the basics, here are a few frequently asked questions.
What about turkey bacon?
Nope. Not better because it's still cured.
Um, excuse me. What about nitrate free?
Even if it says nitrate free, it's still cured with other things that produce nitrates.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about grass-fed beef? Or Canadian beef?
Meat is meat, people.
Aright, but really, what's the actual risk?
There's an 18% increase in risk.
Aright, so to recap the basics, it's the World Health Organization.
It's all red and cured meats.
And it's butt cancer.
Butt cancer.
And the third thing to remember, and probably the most important
is that this news is not going to change behavior.
So expect a lot of this.
The media has sensationalized the whole thing.
Worth it.
I don't want to live in a world without bacon anyway.
And it makes sense.
And 18% increase in risk means this:
If your chances of getting colorectal cancer are 5%, which is the number today,
having a hot dog every day makes that number 6%.
But you have to remember that the 18% is an increase on the 5%.
Even with that in mind, it's still not enough to scare most people.
Because think about it.
In a room of 100 people, five of them are already going to get colorectal cancer.
Being able to enjoy bacon means only one extra. Not scary.
But let's say you dress up the numbers a little bit using the same math.
You're in an NBA arena with 20,000 seats. Everyone can picture that.
Imagine the announcer calling 1,000 names, at random, one-by-one,
each of them "winning" colorectal cancer. Frightening, right?
Well, that's the number today. 5%. And an 18% increase from a hot dog a day
means having to endure the announcer possibly say your name 200 more times.
200 more times.
Would you give up red meat and bacon to not have to go through that?
It's crazy to think about but people still usually fall back on the, "well when I'm 70
argument".
And the circle goes on and on.
The long-term is way too abstract, and quite frankly, unimportant, to really affect change.
So what do we do?
Meet selfishness with selfishness. See what I did there?
People want what's best for them right now.
If, all things considered, that's bacon or a T-Bone steak, that's what they'll go for.
Keep in mind that cancer is the final step.
Our bodies react in a lot of ugly ways way before cancer is even in the pictures.
Ways like belly fat, reduced energy during the day, and worse mental performance.
Really, the list goes on and on.
People can be convinced to do things that make them look good and feel great today,
even if it gives them cancer. Think about smoking or tanning.
You'd think that suggesting another thing that gets them what they want,
a better body, improved energy throughout the day, improved mental performance,
and decreases their risk of cancer in the long term would be an easy sell.
Because after all, Life is NOYOKE.
Right hand?
[beep]
Turkey bacon is aright, right?
[beep]
People, meat is meat.
[beep]
-An 18 % increask in...blah. Increask? -Increask!
Increasky!