Lucie Morris-Marr, an investigative journalist and author of the book Processed, received a shocking bowel cancer diagnosis when she believed was in the best shape of her life. At the time of her diagnosis, Lucie felt fit and healthy.
“When you get a diagnosis like this… it’s still really shocking,” she told Nine to Noon.
“I was flying high, my book had just come out, I was invited to festivals and speeches. I was really excited and happy, and then all of it got cancelled and I felt like my identity had been cancelled.”
While receiving treatment for the stage-four bowel cancer, Lucie started researching more on the disease and was horrified to learn the the World Health Organization links processed meats with bowel cancer and classifies them in the same category as tobacco and alcohol.
“All that kept coming up was processed meats and the link with bowel cancer,” she said.
Thinking of her diet, Lucie believed she wasn’t really a big meat eater, but the more she reflected on her dietary choices, the more she realized she actually did consume processed meat.
“I started to go ‘I did like the prosciutto on the melon on the charcuterie boards, I did have the odd sausage at Bunnings’ and I started to think yes, it was in my diet,” she said. Eating bacon on Christmas and enjoying pepperoni pizza on Fridays hadn’t seem like a big deal, until she came to the realization that those choices might have contributed to her bowel cancer.
“I still, to this day, don’t claim that was the cause of my bowel cancer, because I’ll never know. There’s lots of other factors it can be. But I started to think, ‘Look it’s in the frame, it’s one of the suspects’ and I just felt very angry about it.
“Where were the warning labels? Where were the health campaigns?
“I’m not starting this food scare but someone needs to amplify it.”
WHO has labeled processed meats as a Group 1 carcinogen. Consuming just 50 grams of processed meat daily—or around two slices of bacon—can raise your bowel cancer risk by 18%. The more you eat, the higher the risk. This is due to the chemicals used during meat processing.
Processed meats contain nitrates and nitrites that turn harmful when cooked or digested.
On top of that, they are high in fat and sault which can easily lead to heart and blood pressure problems.
Lucie Morris-Marr believes that her story serves as a reminder that even your favorite sandwich can have a lasting effect on your health. She wants others to understand the dangers of processed meats and take control of their health.
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