The Potentially Dangerous Health Impact of Red Meat
In the largest study of its kind, involving over half a million men and women, older Americans who eat large amounts of red meat like beef, pork and lamb, as well as processed meats like hot dogs, bacon and cold cuts were found to have a greater risk of death from either heart disease or cancer, making it a dangerous red meat health connection.
This study supports the long-standing advice of other experts to limit both these kinds of meats, and appears in the March 23, 2009 Archives of Internal Medicine.
545,000 subjects were included in the study, aged 50 to 71 years old, recruited from AARP members as part of the National Institutes of Health Diet and Health Study, and asked about their dietary habits.
The results did rely on subjects remembering what they ate, and this isn’t always accurate. Also, the pool of subjects was drawn from a group thought to be healthier than other Americans, which means the findings might not apply to everyone, but they are certainly representative.
Over 70,000 of the subjects died during the decade long study, and the researchers accounted for risk factors like smoking, high BMI (body mass index) and family history of cancer in their analysis.
Still the findings point an accusing finger at red and processed meats.
The equivalent of eating a quarter pound hamburger daily gave a 22% higher risk of dying from cancer; 27% higher risk of dying from heart disease when compared to subjects who ate just 5 ounces of meat a week.
Women whose diet included more red meat had a 20% higher risk of dying of cancer; 50% higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less of this type of meat.
In 2003-2004, the most recent year’s statistics are available, adults on average ate 2.5 ounces of red meat per day. So the consumption levels in the study are over the average.
“The consumption of red meat was associated with a modest increase in total mortality,” stated Rashmi Sinha, lead author of the study.
Processed meats carried slightly lower overall risks than red meat according to the research.
Alsopeople whose diets had more white meat (chicken and fish) were found to have lower risks of death.
“This fits together with the findings of the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Cancer Society, which recommend limiting the consumption of red meat,” added Sinha, who’s a senior investigator with the nutrition epidemiological branch at the Cancer Institute.
So, why are excessive amounts of red meat bad for our bodies?
No one has pinned down the answer quite yet.
Some experts suggest the trouble might come from the fat and iron in the meats, others the salt, nitrates/nitrites of processed meats.
Also, when meat is cooked (especially fried or charbroiled) at high temperatures compounds are created in the meat that can be mutagenic or even carcinogenic.
Another argument for reducing the amount of red meat consumed?
Also, conservationists will point to the issue with livestock contributing to greenhouse gas emissions that have been implicated in global warming.
Barry Popkin, who wrote an accompanying editorial to the study, suggests, “We’ve promoted a diet that has added excessively to global warming.”
Most experts state that meat should not be stripped totally from your diet, but rather become a supporting part of meals along with other healthy options.
Choosing fish, poultry or beans as an alternative to the red meats is a great option. Leaner cuts can also be part of a healthy diet, and according to the American Meat Institute are an excellent source of iron, B12 and zinc, as well as other essential vitamins and minerals.
If you have risk factors for heart disease or cancer, you’ll want to talk to your own doctor to find out what diet and lifestyle changes you can make to today to help keep your body healthy and disease free. Don’t let the link between red meat and health be your downfall.
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