Red meat consumption and mortality: results from 2 prospective cohort studies.
Arch Intern Med. 2012 Apr 9;172(7):555-63.
Pan A, et al.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22412075
BACKGROUND:
Red meat consumption has been associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases. However, its relationship with mortality remains uncertain.
METHODS:
We prospectively observed 37 698 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-2008) and 83 644 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (1980-2008) who were free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer at baseline. Diet was assessed by validated food frequency questionnaires and updated every 4 years.
RESULTS:
We documented 23 926 deaths (including 5910 CVD and 9464 cancer deaths) during 2.96 million person-years of follow-up. After multivariate adjustment for major lifestyle and dietary risk factors, the pooled hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) of total mortality for a 1-serving-per-day increase was 1.13 (1.07-1.20) for unprocessed red meat and 1.20 (1.15-1.24) for processed red meat. The corresponding HRs (95% CIs) were 1.18 (1.13-1.23) and 1.21 (1.13-1.31) for CVD mortality and 1.10 (1.06-1.14) and 1.16 (1.09-1.23) for cancer mortality.
We estimated that substitutions of 1 serving per day of other foods (including fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy, and whole grains) for 1 serving per day of red meat were associated with a 7% to 19% lower mortality risk. We also estimated that 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% in women in these cohorts could be prevented at the end of follow-up if all the individuals consumed fewer than 0.5 servings per day (approximately 42 g/d) of red meat.
CONCLUSIONS:
Red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of total, CVD, and cancer mortality.
Substitution of other healthy protein sources for red meat is associated with a lower mortality risk.
Comment in:
Additional ways to diminish the deleterious effects of red meat. [Arch Intern Med. 2012]
Higher red meat consumption is associated with increased risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. [Evid Based Nurs. 2012]
Holy Cow! What’s good for you is good for our planet: comment on “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality”. [Arch Intern Med. 2012]
journalistic version:
Death By Bacon? Study Finds Eating Meat Is Risky
March 12, 2012
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/12/148457233/death-by-bacon-study-finds-eating-meat-is-risky