Don't tell me I can't eat bacon!
Is red meat harmful?
I have patients with heart attacks who come back to my office and proudly proclaim that they’ve stopped eating red meat. Is it really necessary to avoid red meat? One of the best analyses of red meat showed that for every 50 gram/day increase in PROCESSED red meat that the risk of heart disease increased by 42%. Amazingly they found NO association between unprocessed red meat and heart disease. They concluded that red meat, whether unprocessed or processed, was not beneficial for the heart.
Okay, so unprocessed red meat won’t hurt me but this has got to be fake news–I’ve heard my whole life that red meat is bad for me?
Like most things in science, there are conflicting results. Another study evaluated 6 of the best studies looking at red vs. processed red meat and overall death rates. Processed red meat was associated with higher death rates but unprocessed red meat was not. Not so fast though! In men but not women, unprocessed red meat WAS associated with a higher death rate. All four of the six studies done in the United States showed a higher death rate with unprocessed meat but not the studies done in Europe. The increased risk of death was seen at a total red meat consumption of less than one serving per day! Confused yet?
I’m really confused, you’re telling me that red meat is okay but now it’s not? Could there be another explanation?
I think the signal from the studies is that processed red meat is probably harmful while unprocessed red meat may not hurt your heart. The problem with all the studies looking at meat show significant differences between the groups. For example it’s well described in one study that people who eat more red meat are more likely to be overweight, smoke, exercise less, eat less fruits/vegetables, and be less educated. These differences between the groups may also explain the higher rate of death.
What is processed red meat (please don’t say bacon)?
Let’s talk about processed vs unprocessed meats for a minute. Unprocessed red meat is beef, veal, pork, lamb, or game that isn’t processed (remember…you’ve paid nothing for this brilliant analysis). Processed red meat is anything that has been preserved by smoking, salting, curing, or by adding chemical preservatives. Processed meats includes bacon, sausage, deli/luncheon meats (white or red meat), ham, or hot dogs.
Seriously! You’re telling me I can’t eat sausage for breakfast or a hot dog at a baseball game?
There are 4 thoughts as to why processed meats are trouble? 1). Higher salt content may contribute to high blood pressure. 2). People who eat processed red meats are different than those who don’t. 3). Making processed meats creates carcinogens (like heterocyclic amines, N-nitroso compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and artery clogging compounds like nitrate preservatives. There’s even another hypothesis that certain foods (eggs, beef, liver, pork, etc…) high in phosphatidylcholine increase the amount of a compound called Trimethylamine N-oxide which may promote artery clogging.
Does processed red meat cause other stuff?
But before you throw down your daily hamburger, know these results. Processed red meat is associated with a higher incidence of heart failure. Daily eating of red meat and more so processed red meat is associated with a higher incidence of diabetes, stroke, and colorectal cancer. In fact, daily eating of red meat the size of a deck of cards or about 50g/day of processed red meat (1 hot dog or 4 strips of bacon) were both associated with a 17-18% increase in colorectal cancer.
Okay, just summarize it for me.
Given the other disease associations with unprocessed red meat, I would probably eat red meat sparingly and completely avoid processed red meat. Sorry bacon lovers!