Eating red, processed meat causes heart disease, shortens life – Research

New research has linked both red and processed meat to a higher risk
of certain health conditions, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease,
and even some cancers.

Red meat

Previous studies have examined the effects of eating moderate-to-high
amounts of meat on mortality.

However, the impact of consuming a small
amount has remained largely untested.

Researchers at Loma Linda University Health in California aimed to
address this imbalance in a new study, according to a report by Medical News Today.

“We wanted to take a closer look at the association of low intakes of
red and processed meat with all-cause, cardiovascular diseases, and
cancer mortality compared to those who didn’t eat meat at all,” states
lead author Saeed Mastour Alshahrani.

The team’s findings suggest that eating small amounts of red and processed meat could increase a person’s risk of death.

Another study provides more evidence that a plant-based diet is healthful.

The researchers used data from people who took part in the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2).
Between 2002 and 2007, this cohort study recruited close to 96,000 Seventh-day Adventists living in the U.S. and Canada.

Adventists are an interesting group for scientists looking into
factors relating to the diet. About half of these believers are
vegetarian, and those who do choose to eat meat consume very little of
it.

To see whether meat consumption had any effect on mortality,
researchers analyzed two factors. The first was the cause of death of
more than 7,900 Adventists over an 11-year period. The second was a
dietary assessment of the same individuals using food frequency
questionnaires.

The researchers noted that meat intake was low. Among the people who
reported consuming meat, 90 percent ate 2 ounces or less of red meat per
day.

When they evaluated the deaths, the investigators found that
cardiovascular disease was responsible for almost 2,600 of them, while
more than 1,800 deaths related to cancer.

The results, which feature in the journal Nutrients, showed that
there was an association between the consumption of a combination of red
and processed meats and a higher risk of both total and cardiovascular
disease deaths. Processed meat alone did not show a similar trend.

Certain groups appeared to be more susceptible to specific meat
types. For example, unprocessed red meat was “significantly” related to a
risk of all-cause mortality for white people but not for black people.
When the researchers looked specifically at the risk of cardiovascular
disease mortality, they noted that this was only significant among women
and black people.

Black people and women also had an increased risk of all-cause
mortality from eating processed meat. However, the team only identified a
link between processed meat consumption and cardiovascular disease in
women.

The researchers did not report any significant findings relating to
cancer, but they noted that other studies have found evidence of a
relationship between meat intake and this disease. As a result, they
suggest that this association may only become apparent with higher meat
consumption.

The authors of the new study believe that their work supports
previous conclusions. “Our findings give additional weight to the
evidence already suggesting that eating red and processed meat may
negatively impact health and lifespan,” comments Michael Orlich, Ph.D.,
co-author of the study and co-director of AHS-2.

The study also shows something new by demonstrating that eating even a
small amount of red and processed meat could be worse for health than
eating none.

The study has both strengths and limitations. Researchers adjusted
the results for various factors, including obesity, physical activity,
and low intake of fruit and vegetables.

To strengthen the findings, they also took into account specific
dietary factors, such as intake of dairy, whole grains, and legumes. It
also helped that relatively few of the participants smoked or drank
alcohol.

However, the study relied on questionnaires, which could cast doubt
over the results because people may not recall consuming food that they
eat very little of or consume irregularly.

More research will be necessary to support the findings of this
study. It is also still unclear precisely what causes red and processed
meat to lead to adverse health outcomes.

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