The “Innocent” Food Linked to a Higher Risk of Heart Disease

Processed meat, often treated as an ordinary part of the diet, was linked to a markedly higher risk of cardiovascular disease in one of the largest international studies of meat consumption and health.

Researchers analyzed data from 134,297 people in 21 countries across five continents. Participants were followed for almost a decade through the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study, known as PURE. Their dietary habits were recorded using food-frequency questionnaires, and the researchers compared meat consumption with serious cardiovascular events and deaths.

People who ate more than 150 grams of processed meat a week had a 46% higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those who ate no processed meat. Their risk of death was also 51% higher. The study found no similar negative association for moderate consumption of unprocessed red meat or poultry.

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The evidence on the association between meat intake and cardiovascular disease is not clear.

Romaina Iqbal, the study’s first author and an associate professor at Pakistan’s Aga Khan University, said the evidence on meat consumption and cardiovascular disease had not been clear. The researchers sought to distinguish the possible health effects of unprocessed red meat, poultry and processed meat.

Mahshid Dehghan of McMaster University’s Population Health Research Institute said the available evidence suggested that moderate amounts of unprocessed meat, as part of an overall healthy diet, were probably not harmful. The researchers cautioned that further work is needed, including to clarify what participants ate instead of meat.

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Moderate consumption of unprocessed meat, as part of an overall healthy diet, is probably not harmful.