Meat
When the World Health Organization announced a few years ago that hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats appear to raise the risk of colon cancer, carnivores panicked. According to the New York Times, though, the risk of eating meat in reasonable amounts is very small—much less than what’s associated with smoking.
Still, the connection could be related to the level of consumption: Other studies have found that people who eat a lot of red meat have a higher risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, infections, and other ailments than those who eat the least.