A study published last month attracted a lot of media attention with many reports suggesting that men and women who eat higher amounts of red meat and processed meat have a higher risk of dying from cancer, heart disease and other causes compared to those who eat less.
However a closer look at the study raises questions.
The researchers in this study administered a dietary questionnaire to 617,119 people between 50 and 71 years old in 1995, asking them to remember how many portions of various kinds of foods they’d eaten over the past month.
The respondents were then followed up for ten years and the number of deaths and causes of death were recorded.
The researchers finally concluded that red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality.
This however does not mean that eating red meat actually causes disease or death.
Furthermore, the accuracy of the study is questionable due to the results being derived by the self-reporting of diet.
So the moral of this article?
Don’t take study claims to be the absolute truth.
Yes, it is true that previous research has found that the consumption of meat, particularly processed may be associated with a modest increased risk of colorectal cancer, and it is a major source of saturated fat which has been positively associated with certain forms of cancers and heart disease.
However this is not a reason to avoid red meat altogether.
Lean red meat is an important source of dietary iron, zinc, vitamin B2 and protein and in fact the Cancer Council recommends that people consume moderate amounts of unprocessed lean red meat 3-4 times a week.
However they do advise people to limit or avoid processed meats such as sausages, frankfurts, salami, bacon and ham, which are high in fat and salt, limit consumption of burnt or charred meat (which have been associated with producing cancer causing chemicals), and choose lean cuts of meat and chicken.