The findings of a recent global study led by Hamilton scientists found a link between a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and eating processed meat. However, the same study did not find the same association with unprocessed red meat or poultry.
The information comes from the diets and health outcomes of 1,34,297 people from 21 countries across five continents, followed by researchers for meat consumption and cardiovascular disease data.
After monitoring the participants for nearly a decade, the researchers found that consuming 150 grams or more of processed meat per week was associated with a 46 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a 51 percent higher risk of death than those who didn’t eat . meat.
However, the researchers also found that moderate consumption of unprocessed meat had a neutral effect on health.
“Evidence of a link between meat intake and cardiovascular disease is inconsistent. We therefore wanted to better understand the associations between intake of unprocessed red meat, poultry and processed meat with severe cardiovascular disease and mortality,” said Romaina Iqbal. author of the study and an associate professor at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.
“All of the available data indicates that consuming a modest amount of unprocessed meat as part of a healthy diet is unlikely to be harmful,” said Mahshid Dehghan, a researcher for McMaster University’s Population Health Research Institute (PHRI). and Hamilton. Health sciences.
The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study was launched in 2003 and is the first multinational study to provide information on the association between raw and processed meat intake with health outcomes from low, middle and high income countries.
“The PURE study examines substantially more diverse populations and broad dietary patterns, allowing us to provide new evidence that differentiates between the effects of processed and unprocessed meat,” said senior author Salim Yusuf, executive director of PHRI.
Participants’ dietary habits were recorded using food frequency questionnaires, while data was also collected on their mortality and severe cardiovascular disease. This allowed researchers to determine the associations between meat consumption patterns and cardiovascular disease and mortality.
The authors believe that additional research can improve the current understanding of the relationship between meat consumption and health outcomes. For example, it is unclear which study participants ate lower meat intake instead of meat, and whether the quality of those foods differed between countries.
Food substitutes other than meat may affect the further interpretation of the associations between meat consumption and health outcomes. Nevertheless, the authors of the study believe that their findings “indicate that limiting the intake of processed meat should be encouraged”.
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This story was published from a wire desk feed with no text modifications. Only the headline has been changed.