Is that steak worth your life?

Maybe, if it’s cooked just right.  In the correlation is not causation department, this study seems designed to arrive at a particular outcome.  It “confirms” red meat-eaters should expect an early death.  Food is grouped in a way guaranteed to give you dramatic results:

Red meat was defined as all types of beef and pork and processed meats made with red meat such as sausage and bacon. The category also included all foods containing red meat such as chili, lasagna, and stew.

That’s not just about the meat, it’s about high calorie foods.  I mean, lasagna and stew?  Meat isn’t even the main ingredient.  And here’s white meat:

White meat included chicken, turkey, and fish and included processed meats made from poultry, such as turkey sausage.

Hmmm… lasagna consumers versus turkey sausage consumers.  Which of those groups is more likely to practice good health habits in other areas of life, not just in diet?  Did the study include factors like exercise, alcohol, and smoking?  Those are all issues the turkey-eaters I know tend to stay on the right side of.  The article doesn’t say.  Maybe the study is more comprehensive than the article indicates.  But I’m taking it all with a rather large grain of salt.

Along with the barbecued ribs which have been slow-cooking in my oven since noon.