News

105-Year-Old's Secret to Longevity is Eating Bacon Everyday

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: May 08, 2013 02:32 PM EDT

Medical experts have warned again and again that processed meat is detrimental for health, but one Texas centenarian said that bacon is the reason she has lived to be 105.

Pearl Cantrell, who lived a life of physical labor and mothered seven children, says that eating bacon every day is the secret to her longevity.

Cantrell, who lives in Richland Spring, Texas, believes in bacon so much that she often encourages others to eat more of it.

"I love bacon, I could eat it for every meal - and I do," Cantrell told local TV station KRBC. "I want other people to eat bacon. I tell them too. My kids all eat it."

"I don't feel as old as I am, that's all I can say," Cantrell added.

Cantrell told the TV station that her 105th birthday party was a three-day affair with more than 200 guests. And when American meat and cold cut production company, Oscar Mayer, heard about Cantrell's bacon obsession, the company sent of its iconic Wienermobilesto make a bacon delivery to her home.

Oscar Mayer worker, Abraham Luna, told the TV station that the company has seen a lot of they had to make a "special stop" for Cantrell.

"We have seen a lot of thing on the road but not quite like this one," Luna told KRBC.

"We know she is an inspiration for the community and friends and family so we had to make a special stop here for her," he added.

Cantrell's daughter Anno Richards said that her mother was very moved by the gestures, news.com.au reported.

"She had a hard life raising all of us, so she deserves all of this," Richards said. "And I think this today, will keep her going, she will talk about this for months."

However, it's too early for bacon lovers to rejoice. In March, a European study of more than 448,000 men and women aged 35 and 69 found links between processed meat and deaths from cancer and heart disease. The study found that eating more than 20g of processed meat, which is equivalent to about one rasher of bacon, could be responsible for about one in 30 deaths.

"We estimated that 3.3 [percent] of deaths could be prevented if all participants had a processed meat consumption of less than 20 [grams] per day," the researchers wrote in the study.

However, further analysis of the March study may reveal some truth to Cantrell's claim. Researchers found that eating little or no red meat was actually associated with higher all-cause mortality than very moderate consumption. Researchers say this may be because red meat contains important vitamins and nutrients like protein, iron, zinc, vitamins A and B and essential fatty acids, that are important to keep the body healthy.

© 2023 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics