Eating processed meats like bacon or sausages every day is linked to a higher chance of heart disease, but eating regular red meat like steak or burgers doesn’t seem to raise the risk—so it might be the processing, not the meat, that’s the problem.

Eating more red meat — which has certain types of fat — might raise your chance of getting heart disease by 7% for every extra 1% of your daily calories that come from those fats.

Eating processed meats like bacon and hot dogs might raise your risk of heart disease and diabetes more than eating plain red meat, probably because they have more salt and chemicals added to preserve them.

Eating processed meats like bacon and sausages might raise your risk of heart disease more the more you eat, because these foods contain chemicals that can trigger body inflammation, damage cells, and mess up your gut bacteria.

Eating processed meats like bacon and hot dogs might increase your chances of getting heart disease or diabetes compared to eating plain red meat, probably because they have more salt and chemicals added to them.

If you eat less processed meats like bacon and hot dogs, you might be less likely to get heart disease or diabetes—not because of the fat, but because of all the salt and chemicals in them.