Guess what, Bacon fans? Two rashers a day will knock two years off your life, according to Should I Eat meat? (BBC1, 9pm, 18 August). In fact, it would seem you’re better off avoiding eating bacon altogether, seeing as this show presented evidence that processed meats, like bacon, “significantly” increase the risks of heart disease or cancer.

That’s bad news for bacon lovers. And it’s tragic news for all those humane factory farmers out there, who are currently cranking out bacon as fast as they can gas pigs. But killer bacon aside, what about meat in general?

Presenter Michael Mosley picked the brains of a vast array of experts who have spent years studying the issue. And while white meat gets a clean bill of Health, it seems the evidence surrounding red meat is rather more grey.

One doctor claimed eating red meat three times a week doubled the risk of heart disease, compared with a veggie diet. Yet a comprehensive study of 500,000 people across 10 countries, spanning 12 years, concluded that “a low, but not zero, consumption of meat” could actually be “beneficial to health” thanks to all the “protein, iron, zinc, vitamins and essential fatty acids.”

Ultimately, the question posed by the show was answered by Mosley himself. He’d been gobbling down meat throughout and by the end he was fat, furry with cholesterol and his blood pressure was ready to blow. He might have spoken to a range of experts, but his body told him straight. You don’t have to avoid meat altogether - just eat less of it.

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