Red meat raises risk of all kinds of death

Print By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science
Editor – 2 hrs 40 mins agoWASHINGTON
(Reuters) – People who eat the most red meat and the most processed meat have
the highest overall risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and
cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

The National Cancer Institute study is one of the largest to look at the highly
controversial and emotive issue of whether eating meat is indeed bad for health.

Rashmi Sinha and colleagues looked at the records of more than 500,000 people
aged 50 to 71 who filled out questionnaires on their diet and other health
habits.

Even when other factors were accounted for -- eating fresh fruits and
vegetables, smoking, exercise, obesity -- the heaviest meat-eaters were more
likely to die over the next 10 years than the people who ate the least amount of
meat.

"Red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total
mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality," Sinha and
colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They divided the volunteers into five groups, called quintiles. Between 1995 and
2005, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.

The quintile who ate the most red meat had a higher risk for overall death,
death from heart disease and cancer than the men and women who ate the least red
meat.

The researchers said thousands of deaths could be prevented if people simply ate
less meat.

"For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in
women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the
level of intake in the first quintile," Sinha's team wrote.

HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT

Many studies have shown that people who eat less meat are healthier in many
ways, and Sinha's team noted that meat contains several cancer-causing
chemicals, as well as the unhealthiest forms of fat.

The U.S. government now recommends a "plant-based diet" that stresses fruits,
vegetables and whole grains.

Barry Popkin, an expert in nutrition and economics at the University of North
Carolina, said the study was unusually thorough and careful.

Eating less meat has other benefits, he said, and governments should start
promoting this. For instance, farming animals for meat causes greenhouse gas
emissions that warm the atmosphere and uses fresh water in excess, he said.

"I was pretty surprised when I checked back and went through the data on
emissions from animal food and livestock," Popkin said in a telephone interview.

"I didn't expect it to be more than cars."

Cancer experts said the study fit in with what is known from other research.

"This large study provides further evidence to support the recommendations by
groups such as the World Cancer Research Fund in demonstrating an association
between a high consumption of red and processed meats and a increase risk of
death from cancer," said Ian Olver, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Council
Australia.

The meat industry denounced the study as flawed.

But American Meat Institute executive president, James Hodges, said: "Meat
products are part of a healthy, balanced diet and studies show they actually
provide a sense of satisfaction and fullness that can help with weight control.
Proper body weight contributes to good health overall."

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)