Eating too much red meat might put you at risk of dying early from cancer, heart disease and other causes, according to a new US study appearing in this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
Study researcher Rashmi Sinha, PhD, a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, which supported the study, said: “We found the consumption of red and processed meat is associated with a modest increase in overall mortality, as well as cancer and cardiovascular mortality in both men and women.”
The study involved more than 500,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans who participated in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. When the study began in 1995, the participants were between the ages of 50 and 71. During the follow-up period (10 years), 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.
The researchers divided people in five categories, according to how much red meat and processed meat was eaten on a daily basis. Red meat consisted in beef, pork, bacon, ham, hamburger, hot dogs, liver, pork sausage, steak, and meats in foods such as pizza, stews and lasagna. White meat consisted in turkey, fish, chicken, chicken mixtures and other meats. Processed meat consisted in either white or red meat that was cured, dried, or smoked such as bacon, chicken sausage, lunch meats and cold cuts.
After accounting for other variables that might influence the findings, such as smoking and physical activity, the researchers found that those who ate the most red meat, about a quarter-pound a day, were more likely to die of any reason, and from cancer and heart disease in particular compared with those who ate the least, the equivalent of a couple of slices of ham a day.
Taken separately, women who ate the most red meat were 36 percent more likely to die for any reason, 20 percent more likely to die of cancer and 50 percent more likely to die of heart disease. Men who ate the most red meat, on the other hand, were 31 percent more likely to die of any reason, 22 percent more likely to die of cancer and 27 percent more likely to die of heart disease.
The researchers found that people who ate the most white meat were about 8 percent less likely to die during the follow-up period compared with those who ate the least. The explanation might be that poultry is rich in unsaturated fat, which improves cholesterol levels and fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are believed to help reduce heart disease risk.
When it comes to processed meat, women who consumed the most, (about an ounce a day) were about 25 percent more likely to die overall, about 11 percent more likely to die of cancer and about 38 percent more likely to die from heart disease, compared to those who ate the least. Men who consumed the most processed meat had lower risks, namely they were 16 percent more likely to die for any reason, about 12 percent more likely to die of cancer and about 9 percent more likely to die of heart disease.
The study authors don’t want to underline the idea that you should eliminate red or processed meat from your diet, but not eating it every day might add years to your life.
“You can be very healthy being a vegetarian, but you can be very healthy being a non-vegetarian if you keep your red-meat intake low. If you are eating meat twice a day and can cut back to once a day there's a big benefit,” said Walter Willett, a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public Health.
