Time for summer picnics. You just finished a game of softball, had a cold drink, and headed for the grill. The cook asks, “Hamburger or hotdog?” What would you pick?

According to a recent study, you might want to pick the hamburger. Eating just one serving of processed meats (like hotdogs, bacon, ham) each day may raise your risk of heart disease by 42% compared to eating unprocessed meat.  The increased risk for diabetes is 19%.

The Harvard University School of Public Health is not sure why this is so. Both types of meats have about the same amount of fat, but the sodium in processed meats is about 4 times that in unprocessed meats. Processed meats also have about 50% more nitrate preservatives compared to unprocessed meat.

If you don’t eat much processed meat in your usual diet and you really want the hotdog, the choice may not make a big difference. However, if processed meats are a regular part of your diet, maybe you should go for the hamburger and look for ways to lower the amount of processed meat in your diet.

Have fun at the picnic!