Eating processed red meat in the last few years doesn’t seem to raise the risk of a certain type of colon cancer in US health pros — it might be how much you've eaten over a lifetime that matters more.

Eating more processed red meat — like bacon or hot dogs — is linked to a higher chance of getting a certain type of colon cancer, especially if you've been eating it for years. Cutting back could help lower your risk.

Eating processed red meat every day doesn’t seem to raise the risk of a specific type of colon cancer in US health workers — the study found no real link, and it might even depend on where in the colon the cancer starts.

Eating unprocessed red meat every day might slightly increase the chance of getting a type of colon cancer, but the data isn’t strong enough to say for sure — it could just be chance.

Eating more unprocessed red meat might seem linked to lower risk of a certain type of colon cancer in health pros, but it's probably because these folks eat healthier overall — not because the meat itself is protective.

We know that eating a lot of red and processed meats is linked to higher cancer risk, but scientists still don't fully understand how exactly that happens in the body.