Eating meat regularly increases someone’s risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia and other serious diseases, new research has found.
It is already known that the intake of red and processed meat increases the risk of being diagnosed with bowel cancer. But these findings are the first to determine whether meat consumption has been linked to any of the 25 non-cancerous diseases that mostly lead to people being admitted to hospital in the UK.
Oxford University academics who published the study found that consuming red meat, processed meats and poultry such as chicken and turkey, alone or together, was linked at least three times a week to a greater risk for nine different illnesses.
Their results contribute to the growing evidence from researchers and the World Health Organization that eating too much meat, especially red and processed meats, can harm someone’s health.
The findings, published in the journal BMC Medicine, are based on an analysis of the health records of 474,985 middle-aged Britons. The researchers examined details about their diet with information from their medical records about hospital admissions and also mortality rates for an average of eight years.
The study concluded: ‘On average, participants who consumed meat regularly (three or more times a week) had more adverse health behaviors and characteristics than participants who consumed meat less frequently.
Higher consumption of unprocessed red and processed meat along with higher risks of ischemic heart disease, pneumonia, diverticular disease, colon polyps and diabetes, and higher consumption of poultry meat are associated with higher risks of gastro-esophageal reflux, gastritis duodenulitis, diverticulitis duodenulitis , gallbladder disease and diabetes. ”
The academics, led by Dr Keren Papier of the Nuffield Department of Population Health, found that every 70 grams of unprocessed red meat and processed meat that a person consumes daily increases their risk of heart disease by 15% and diabetes by 30%.
This meat can increase the risk of heart disease because it contains saturated fatty acids, which can increase low-density lipoprotein or ‘bad’ cholesterol, which is known to put people at greater risk for heart problems.
Similarly, every 30 grams of poultry meat eaten daily increases the risk of developing gastroesophageal reflux by 17% and diabetes by 14%.
However, it was mainly meat eaters who were overweight or obese who ran these risks, it was revealed during the study. Most increased risks of identified diseases were reduced after taking into account the body mass index of participants.
“It seems that the differences in BMI between the categories of meat consumption are a significant part of the increased risks,” says the article in BMC Medicine.
However, if you eat meat regularly, you have reduced the risk of someone suffering from iron deficiency anemia.
“We have long known that unprocessed red meat and processed meat consumption are likely to be carcinogenic, and this research is the first to assess the risk of 25 non-cancerous health conditions associated with meat intake in one study,” Papier said.
Further investigation was needed into whether the differences in risk she and her team observed reflected “causal relationships. [with meat intake] and, if so, the extent to which these diseases could have been prevented by reducing meat consumption, ”she added.
Public Health England and the British Meat Processors Association were approached for comment.