The consumption of red meat has been linked with a higher risk of heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer, but its exact effects on mortality are not well-studies. The objective of this study is to investigate the association of changes in red meat consumption with total and cause-specific mortality.
This is a combination of two prospective cohort studies with repeated measures of diet and lifestyle factors. The study included a total of 81,469 participants (53 553 women and 27 916 men) without cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer at the baseline. The primary outcome was death linked to the changes in the consumption of red meat
A total of 14,019 deaths occurred during 1.2 million years of follow-up. An increase in meat consumption over eight years was linked with a higher risk of mortality in both men and women. Increasing the total red meat consumption of at least half a serving per day was associated with a 10% higher risk of mortality. For processed and unprocessed, an increase in consumption by half serving a day or more was linked with a 13% higher mortality risk.
The research concluded that an increase in red meat consumption was associated with higher overall mortality rates.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l2110
