The findings of a recent global study led by Hamilton scientists found a link between an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and eating processed meat. The same study, however, did not find the same connection with red meat or unprocessed poultry.
The information comes from the diets and health outcomes of 1.34,297 people from 21 countries on five continents, which were tracked by researchers to obtain data on meat consumption and cardiovascular diseases.
After monitoring participants for nearly a decade, the researchers found that consumption of 150 grams or more of processed meat per week was associated with a 46% higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a 51% higher risk of death than those who did not. they ate processed meat I didn’t.
However, the researchers also found that moderate levels of consumption of unprocessed meat had a neutral effect on health.
“The evidence for an association between meat eating and cardiovascular disease is inconsistent. We therefore wanted to better understand the associations between eating unprocessed red meat, poultry and processed meat with major cardiovascular events and mortality,” said Romaina Iqbal, first author of the study and associate professor at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.
“The totality of available data indicates that consuming a modest amount of unprocessed meat as part of a healthy eating pattern is unlikely to be harmful,” said Mahshid Dehghan, a researcher at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) at McMaster University and Hamilton Science of Health.
The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study was launched in 2003 and is the first multinational study that provides information on the association between the intake of processed and unprocessed meat with health outcomes in low, medium and high income countries.
“The PURE study examines substantially more diverse populations and broad dietary patterns, allowing us to provide new evidence that distinguishes between the effects of processed and unprocessed meat,” said senior author Salim Yusuf, executive director of PHRI.
Participants’ eating habits were recorded using food frequency questionnaires, while data were also collected on their mortality and major cardiovascular disease events. This allowed researchers to determine the associations between meat consumption patterns and events of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
The authors believe that additional research may improve the current understanding of the relationship between meat consumption and health outcomes. For example, it is not clear what study participants with low meat consumption were eating instead of meat, and whether the quality of these foods differed between countries.
Substitutes for non-meat foods may have implications for the interpretation of associations between meat consumption and health outcomes. However, the study’s authors believe their findings “indicate that limiting the intake of processed meat should be encouraged.”
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This story was published from a wire agency feed with no text changes. Only the title has been changed.