Red meat may not be as unhealthy as processed meat, study finds

• Eating red meat and chicken regularly may not be as unhealthy as it once thought.
• New research suggests that processed meat is linked to health risks, but unprocessed meat in small amounts is not.
• More research is needed, but the evidence supports replacing bacon and sausage with chicken or beans.
• Visit the Insider home page for more stories.

Meat could be back on the menu for healthy eating, at least if you avoid highly processed varieties, new research suggests.

While eating processed meat like bacon and sausage is linked to worse health outcomes, fresh cuts of red meat and chicken may not increase your risk of disease, according to a study published March 31 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers from several universities, including McMaster University in Canada, examined data from 134,297 people in 21 countries, including Canada, Sweden, Russia, South Africa, India and Brazil, on a period of nine and a half years, on average.

They found that eating more than three servings of unprocessed red meat and chicken per week was not associated with a higher risk of

heart disease
or premature death, whatever the cause.

However, people who ate more than two servings per week of processed meat were more likely to develop major cardiovascular disease and more likely to die during the study, than people who did not eat processed meat.

Previous research has linked red meat to cancer and heart disease

These findings contrast with previous research that has linked red meat to the risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses – albeit less than processed meat. Red meat and processed meat are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and heme iron, all of which have previously been linked to a risk of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses.

One of the reasons for these conflicting results is that most nutrition studies, including this one, are observational. This means that they can find associations between certain diets and diseases, but they cannot prove whether specific foods directly cause health risks.

And in some cases, studies of the health risks of meat have grouped red meat and processed meat into one category, making it difficult to determine whether they have different health effects.

“The evidence for an association between meat consumption and cardiovascular disease is inconsistent. We therefore wanted to better understand the associations between intakes of unprocessed red meat, poultry and processed meat with major cardiovascular disease events and mortality, “Dr Romaina Iqbal, first author of this recent study and a professor of nutrition at Aga Khan University in Pakistan, said in a press release.

Consider cutting back on processed meat

While the debate around red meat continues to be somewhat controversial, the authors of the most recent study conclude that limiting processed meat is a safe bet for your health. This is also supported by other research.

That’s a good reason to consider swapping out your deli or hot dogs for chicken breast, beef tenderloin, or even a meatless alternative.