Red meat includes products like bacon, salami, hot dogs, and sausages. As per evidence, it has been noted that excessive consumption of red meat can lead to increment in the risk of death or other chronic diseases like a heart attack. To check the validity of this statement, a group of researchers undertook a study that investigated the relation in between processed and unprocessed red meat. They also looked into the subject of the risk of coronary heart disease that may increase due to red meat consumption. The team pondered upon the effect that may be caused by substituting other types of sources for getting protein instead of red meat.
This new study may positively affect the Plant-Based Food Market as it brings forward the narrative that substituting red meat with high-quality plant food may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Consuming whole grains, dairy products, legumes, soy or nuts, and eggs may be better for the human body and the environment.
In their research, the team realized that the association of red meat and coronary heart disease risk was higher among older men. This is consistent with the effect caused by such products on cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein.
To come to this conclusion, they took up 43,272 U.S. men, with an average age of 53. Participants submitted a detailed diet questionnaire in 1986 and were asked to do the same once every four years until 2016. These records were used to see all the fatal and non-fatal events that took place in 30 years, which were related to coronary heart disease. The team took into account all the other risk factors that can lead up to cardiovascular disease and concluded that for everyone serving a day, consuming red meat led to 12% higher risk factors. A similar relation was seen with unprocessed red meat led to 11% higher risk, and processed red meat led to 15% higher risk.
In contrast to this, consumption of combined plant protein sources of one serving a day showed decreased coronary heart disease risk by 14%. This risk was lower by 18% among men who were over the age of 65. Among youth, substituting red meat with egg was associated with a 20% reduction in coronary heart disease risk. It was noted that replacing red meat with a fish dish was not related to any heart disease risk. However, researchers believe that it might be due to the cooking method and that the food group included processed food products as well.