Meat Intake Linked to Mortality

A large US population based cohort study revealed that increased risks of all cause mortality and nine specific causes of death were associated with both processed and unprocessed red meat, accounted for, in part, by heme iron intake and nitrate/nitrite from processed meat. Replacing the intake of red meat with white meat, particularly unprocessed white meat, without changing total meat intake, was associated with reduced mortality risk. The study included 536 969 participants aged 50-71 at baseline with 16 years follow-up until 31 December 2011. An increased risk of all cause mortality (hazard ratio for highest versus lowest fifth 1.26) and death due to nine different causes associated with red meat intake was observed. Both processed and unprocessed red meat intakes were associated with all cause and cause specific mortality. Heme iron and processed meat nitrate/nitrite were independently associated with increased risk of all cause and cause specific mortality. Mediation models estimated that the increased mortality associated with processed red meat was influenced by nitrate intake (37.0-72.0%) and to a lesser degree by heme iron (20.9-24.1%). When the total meat intake was constant, the highest fifth of white meat intake was associated with a 25% reduction in risk of all cause mortality compared with the lowest intake level. Almost all causes of death showed an inverse association with white meat intake. The findings are consistent with literatures. Source: http://www.bmj.com/