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Meat Eaters Face Slightly Higher Health Risks, New Study Finds
The message is in line with the majority of other research
The latest study of meat consumption finds eating red meat, processed meat or poultry twice a week raises the risk of cardiovascular disease by 3% to 7% and ups the odds of premature death by all causes 3%.
“It’s a small difference, but it’s worth trying to reduce red meat and processed meat like pepperoni, bologna and deli meats,” said senior study author Norrina Allen, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Red meat consumption also is consistently linked to other health problems like cancer.”
While the percentages were small, the study was not. It involved 29,682 participants who reported what they ate. (Self-reporting is known to not be the most reliable method of developing data.) “Our study shows the link to cardiovascular disease and mortality was robust,” study leader Victor Zhong, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University, said in a statement.
However, the study did not break out red and processed meat separate from poultry. Other research has shown red meat and processed meat associated with health risks more so than poultry. A study last year in the journal Nutrients found…
