One hot dog can shorten life by 36 minutes – study

One hot dog can shorten life by 36 minutes. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Michigan (USA).

As part of their research, which is reported in the journal Nature Food, the experts studied about 6,000 foods from the American diet and their impact on healthy life expectancy in minutes.

Based on the Global Burden of Disease study, which examined nutrition-related morbidity, the researchers developed an index of the beneficial or harmful health impact of one serving of food.

One of the products studied was a regular beef hot dog. It turned out that 61 grams of processed meat leads to a loss of 27 minutes of healthy life. If sodium and trans fats are added to the dish, this figure reaches 36 minutes.

"Sausages and breakfast sandwiches, burgers, and red meat almost always have a negative rating, and an additional portion of such foods is harmful to health," the study authors warn.

At the same time, according to scientists, foods such as nuts, seafood, fruits, cereals, and non-starchy vegetables have a positive effect on the body.

In particular, a peanut butter and fruit jelly sandwich, known in the United States as PB&J (Peanut butter and jelly sandwich), can be a good alternative to a hot dog. A portion of such food can add 33 minutes to a healthy life, which, according to the study, is the highest among all the foods studied.