People’s love for processed meats may come back to bite them in the long run, new research from the UK suggests. The study found a link between greater consumption of processed meat and higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. At the same time, it also found a possible link between eating unprocessed meat and a lower risk of dementia.
Processed meats like bacon, jerky, and hot dogs don’t really have any reputation for being healthy in the first place. Other research has suggested that diets with many of these foods are linked to chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer. Some studies even have pointed for an association between processed meats and the increased risk of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as episodes of bipolar depression.
There has been mixed evidence that a diet rich in meat can increase a person’s risk of dementia later in life. But according to the authors of this new study, published Monday in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, less work was done to distinguish the potential risk of dementia from different meats (processed versus not) and whether genetics can play a role in that risk.
The study was based on population data from the UK Biobank, an ongoing research project that collected health and genetic information from approximately half a million residents. ages 40 to 69, between 2006 and 2010. As part of the project, volunteers filled in a questionnaire about them diet at the start of their enrollment and in periodic online surveys for up to 16 months thereafter. Due to the UK’s nationalized health system, the researchers were then able to track the health outcomes of these participants, including whether they developed or died of dementia.
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About 2,900 cases of dementia were diagnosed across the group, during an average follow-up of eight years.up period. And when the researchers tried to factor in people’s diets, they found a clear link between processed meat and dementia risk, but they didn’t see the link when it came to other types of meat.
For example, the associated risk of dementia increased by 44% for every 25 grams of processed meat eaten daily. But no significant association was found between the risk of dementia and total meat consumption or between the risk of dementia and a person’s daily intake of chicken. Meanwhile, the associated risk of dementia actually decreased slightly for those who regularly ate unprocessed red meat (cooked beef, veal, pork, etc.The risk of dementia increased for those carrying the APOE ε4 genetic variation, as expected, but this risk was not affected by meat consumption
“Our findings suggest that consumption of processed meat may increase the risk of incident dementia, and that intake of unprocessed red meat may be associated with lower risks,” the authors wrote.
Nutrition studies like this one have their limitations, of course. For example, they cannot just demonstrate a direct cause-and-effect relationship between two things a connection. Studying human diets is generally difficultas we are not the best at remembering what and how much of a particular food we eat regularly. And of course, at age 40 or 50, a person’s diet can still change significantly between then and the time of their diagnosis of dementia, years or decades later.
A single study should not be viewed as the final verdict on a topic. More research will need to be done to gauge the possible effects of a diet high in processed meats at our risk of dementia and how these diets can cause it. That said, as previously mentioned, this wouldn’t be the first study linking processed meats to deteriorating health. So while the details still need to be worked on, it is likely in many of our interests to cut back bacon or sausage anyway.
“The prevalence of dementia is on the rise worldwide and nutrition as a modifiable factor could play a role,” said lead author Huifeng Zhang, a PhD student from the University of Leeds School of Food Science and Nutrition, in a statement. released by the UK-based university. “Our research adds to the growing body of evidence that the consumption of processed meat is associated with an increased risk of a range of non-communicable diseases.”