Millions of us eat them regularly.
A prominent heart surgeon has identified four foods “proven to shorten your lifespan”. Dr Jeremy London, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with over 25 years of clinical experience, routinely shares health advice and guidance through social media and interviews. And he is not the only medical professional raising concerns about the effect these foods can have on your longevity and overall health.
In a video posted on social media, Dr London identified the following as being “proven” to shorten your lifespan:
Elaborating further, Dr London said of sugary drinks, also referred to as soft drinks and fizzy drinks, that they are “empty calories” that “never make you feel full”. He has also branded them as “liquid death” and said: “Just don’t drink them. Period. Done.”
In an interview with Today, he clarified why he used the term “liquid death”, saying: “I think that soft drinks are just a scourge in our society, and so I was really trying to get some attention. Obviously, high-calorie soft drinks and ingesting a lot of calories that people don’t realise they’re getting with the sugar-based soft drinks is a big no-no.”
But he is far from the only leading medical professional highlighting the dangers of sugary soft drinks. Dr William Li recently told the Zoe Science and Nutrition podcast: “The preponderance of clinical evidence… shows that high consumption of soda is associated with everything from metabolic disease to cardiovascular disease to cancer risk.”
‘Convincing evidence it causes cancer’
When it comes to alcohol and processed meats, the World Health Organisation classifies both as class one carcinogens, meaning they are carcinogenic to humans. Put simply, they cause cancer (though this does not necessarily mean you will develop cancer if you consume them). The WHO says: “This category is used when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. In other words, there is convincing evidence that the agent causes cancer.”
Cancer Research UK also says: “We know for definite that processed meat is a cause of cancer. We are as sure of this link as we are for other proven causes of cancer, like tobacco and alcohol.”
Dr London clarified that his mention of “excess saturated fats” was meant to encompass “high fat meat, butter, high fat dairy, things of these nature”.
However, other prominent scientists may challenge this view. Professor Sarah Berry, a nutrition and cardio-metabolic health expert at Kings College London, told the Zoe Science and Nutrition podcast that the “biggest myth that frustrates me is that dairy is high in saturated fat and therefore increases your risk of heart disease and it doesn’t”.
Nevertheless, ultra-processed foods are frequently high in saturated fat, as well as sugar and salt. There is also a growing consensus amongst scientists that ultra-processed foods are considerably more harmful to our health than was previously understood. Dr Li, a globally renowned physician and researcher specialising in cancer and the relationship between diet and health, told the Zoe podcast: “More and more research is showing that the consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a higher risk and a higher disease burden… including cancer.”
In his video, Dr London further noted that completely avoiding the foods he named was not necessarily the objective, stating that managing to eat healthily 80% of the time is “a win”. He said: “Look, I understand that life gets in the way and it’s difficult to follow a nutritional plan. For me personally, 80% of the time, that’s a win. Now, understand that what you want to shoot for is reducing these things, living in moderation. What you want to avoid is having any or all of these things foundational in your nutritional plan.”
What is processed meat?
The World Health Organisation defines processed meat as “meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation”. It states that most processed meats contain pork or beef, though they may also include other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood, and provides the following examples of processed meat:
- hot dogs (frankfurters)
- ham
- sausages
- corned beef
- biltong or beef jerky
- canned meat
- meat-based preparations and sauces.
Is all alcohol a risk?
In a recent report, the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service at the time cautioned that alcohol consumption had been directly associated with at least seven forms of cancer, and that even light or moderate drinking can heighten your risk of developing the disease.
And Dr Ernest Hawk, vice president and head of the division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told the New York Times: “There is no safe level of alcohol when it comes to cancer risk.”
