Did you hear about the new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine? The one that says a hot dog a day is worse for you than an apple a day?
The study finds that people who consume one serving of red meat per day ( beef, pork, lamb) had a 13% increased risk of mortality, compared with those who were eating very little meat. And processed meats raised the risk higher, to about a 20% increased risk of death from diseases including cancer and heart disease.
This study analyzed data from two studies — the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study — and included more than 100,000 men and women. Volunteers completed questionnaires about how often they ate meat and other foods. Researchers tracked participants for several decades, documenting the onset of diseases and death.
The study found that people who replaced 1 serving of red meat with alternative sources of protein decreased their risks of premature death. Choosing chicken and other poultry decreased the risk by 14 percent, fish decreased the risks by 7 percent and legumes decreased the risk by 10 percent. (Source)
My dietary choices reflect that I’m in the no-meat camp. I’m not sure what to think of the fact that poultry reduced risk more than legumes.
Can you guess the real meat culprits?
This is Italian sausage wrapped in bacon. Source: bbqaddicts
Processed meat.
The study researchers advise cutting back on the bacon, sausage, and processed meat and making them “once in a while” food. A theory as to why processed meat is riskier is that the iron in meat works as a catalyst — to turn nitrites added as preservatives — into a particular kind of carcinogen in the body.
Dr. Dean Ornish, clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who wrote an accompanying editorial to the study, says that more than 75 percent of the $2.6 trillion spent each year on health care in the U.S. is for chronic diseases and that eating less red meat may reduce the incidence of these diseases. (Source)
There are two sides to every story. The American Meat Institute Foundation disputes the findings that red meats including processed meats elevate the risk of cancer.
Maybe there are three sides to this story–how about a plant-strong diet?
Hooray for veggies!
Questions: Did you hear/read about this study? What do you think?
Apples and Arteries 
This, plus all of the recent reports about pink slime, make me even like eating meat less! I tend to try to limit the amount of meat that I eat because I think as Americans, its too big of a segment of our diet! Plants are good! 🙂
I read about the pink slime but couldn’t bring myself to write about it. Ewwww!
I heard about it! It definitely made me think although I only eat red meat less than once a week. Great post!
I hadn’t heard that. I’m a pretty big believer in things in moderation, but I don’t eat a whole lot of red meat. Mostly because I don’t like to touch or cook it!! Haha. I would definitely encourage people cutting back but not necessarily cutting out completely.
That study is actually a load of crap. Bad science & Bad math. http://www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/red-meat-and-mortality-this-ones-for-you/
The risk of each person dying, per year of the study, was less than 1% — whether or not they ate red meat. The foundation of nutrition as we know it remains variety. & variety, as we know it, can still include red meat if you like it & are inclined to eat it. I personally wouldn’t suggest eating it every single day for 24 years, but even if you wanted to, *this* study wouldn’t give you a single good reason to worry.
I appreciate your opinion and feedback. Thank you for commenting.
Anytime! I was so shocked when I read the flaws Fat Nutritionist had revealed. So sad that the media is try to make us scared of food.