A new study suggests that eating hot dogs can take some minutes off your life, and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has reacted to it.
Researchers at the University of Michigan released a study that found one hot dog — just one — can take 36 minutes off of your own life.
One of the main findings of the study — substituting your intake of beef and processed meats for fruits, veggies, nuts and legumes can reduce your carbon footprint and help you gain 48 minutes of life.
The study evaluated more than 5,800 foods to see how they impact our bodies. The study looked at how beneficial or detrimental the food was on one’s body.
- Hamburgers, for example, can take away seven minutes of your life, according to the study.
- Candy can help you gain one minute or two of life.
- Similarly, peanut butter and jelly can help you gain 33 minutes of life. So if you eat a hot dog, you might want to eat a PB&J to counter it.
Notable hot dog eater — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney — might want to view this study. Romney has said before that hot dogs are his favorite meat, so it applies to him, right?
Well, I asked Romney’s office if the Utah senator had a comment on the study. Romney’s office then sent me Romney’s reaction to the report:
- “For every hot dog, I eat two PB&Js,” he said. “It all evens out.”
Per The Washington Post, Joey Chesnut — the famous hot dog eater who competes every year at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City — has consumed close to 19,200 hot dogs. That would mean, based on the study, that he has lost 1.3 years of his life by eating those dogs.
- Chestnut told The Washington Post that he still feels healthy despite what the study might say.
- “The only way I can continue doing it is by being healthy,” Chestnut told The Washington Post. “If I start gaining weight and start having issues with my body, then I won’t be able to push my body.”