BBC Learning English
Words in the News
19th May 2010
Sausages linked to heart disease
American researchers have found that small amounts of processed meat can increase the
chances of developing heart disease. But they found no such risk from eating unprocessed red
meat, like steaks. Clare Murphy reports:
The team from Harvard University looked at 20 studies involving more than a million people
from around the world. They found that eating the equivalent of one sausage a day appeared
to increase the likelihood of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the UK, by over 40%.
The regular eating of processed meat also raised the risk of diabetes by nearly 20%.
But those who enjoy red meat can draw some comfort from the report. The researchers did
not find any heightened risk of heart disease or diabetes from eating unprocessed red meat,
like beef, lamb or pork - even in larger quantities.
Writing in the journal Circulation, they suggest it may be the salt and preservatives used in
processed meat that are behind the increased risk of disease, rather than the fat or cholesterol
content which so often gets the blame.
a medical condition in which a person’s body is not able to
control the level of sugar in the blood
heightened risk of
likelihood or possibility of something happening
draw some comfort from
feel better after feeling worried about something
Circulation
Here, this is the name of a magazine but it also means the
flow of blood around the body
preservatives
chemicals used to stop food from decaying or going bad
cholesterol content
the amount of a particular which contains a lot of fat that is
found in our tissue and blood, and which is thought to be
part of the cause of heart disease if there is too much of it
gets the blame
is thought to be the reason for (something negative)
More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8688104.stm
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/05/100519_witn_meat._story.shtml