Joey Chestnut won his 17th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2025, downing 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Yikes.

A new study in the journal Nature reveals that eating even one hot dog (or other processed meats such as salami, bacon or sausage) a day boosts your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 11% and colon cancer by 7%. And drinking a 12-ounce soda a day increases your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 8%.

And if you do them together, it’s even riskier.

In fact, after analyzing 77 studies the researchers concluded that no amount of processed meat is really safe.

The researchers found that as little as two one-hundredths of an ounce to 2 ounces of processed meats makes you at higher risk for diabetes — and a typical hotdog contains 1.7 ounces of processed meats (along with other unhealthy additives).

Do yourself a favor and replace processed meats with lightly grilled or baked salmon and other fish, skinless poultry, and root vegetables. Then quench your thirst with unsweetened iced tea or water.

Also, ditch the white bread bun — lettuce wraps are a tasty alternative.

Getting healthier is a process of weaning yourself off processed foods and opting for a plant-based diet that features whole, fresh veggies and fruits with lean animal proteins as a side dish.