Looking for another excuse to start eating like a Mediterranean? Look no further than this new study from the medical journal BMC Medicine. Researchers followed people from 10 European countries over an average of 13 years and concluded that diets heavy in processed meats—bacon, ham, sausage, and the like—are linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and early death. Despite evidence that people who eat a lot of processed meats are also more likely to be smokers, the researchers insist that the meat poses its own lethal health risks.