The cholesterol theory of cardiovascular disease claims that the cause of atherosclerosis is the consumption of too much cholesterol and saturated fat in the diet. A high consumption of red meat is therefore often cited as a causative factor in cardiovascular deaths. Based on this premise, red meat is often associated with a detrimental health outcome. It is true that consumption of the typical Western diet is a likely cause of cardiovascular disease, and the Western diet does have a high content of red meats. However, many studies fail to differentiate between processed meat and unprocessed meat. In addition, high intakes of saturated fat and red meat also often coincide with low intakes of fibre. As low intakes of fibre many cause detrimental glycaemic effects which can then lead to insulin resistance, a known driver of the metabolic changes that lead to the development of cardiovascular disease, it is not possible to blame red meat for this effect. So is red meat detrimental to the health and how can we assess this?
One possible way to assess the health effects of red meat is to follow a group of individuals as their red meat consumption increases. Fortunately, it is possible to do this currently by observing the health effects of increased red meat consumption in Asian countries. Traditionally Asian countries have relied on plant based food for their protein, including legumes such as the soybean. However, more recently as the countries in Asia develop, a switch to a more Western style diet with higher intakes of red meat has occured. Researchers have investigated the temporal changes in red meat consumption in these countries to assess if there has been an impact on total mortality. For example, in one study1, researchers evaluated data from China, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea and Taiwan with regard red meat consumption to find associations with mortality. However, the pooled analysis of the data revealed no association between an increase in red meat consumption and mortality.
Although the red meat consumption in these countries is still well below that found in more Westernised countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, these results do tend to confirm what many have long suspected. There is no real association between red meat consumption and mortality. Looking at the nutritional literature the evidence for such an association is tenuous at best, with no real convincing data proving the red meat causes cardiovascular disease fallacy. It is true that processed meats may increase the rates of cancer because of the nitrates they contain, but for unprocessed red meat there is no strong evidence for an association with disease. In fact for men, red meat consumption appears to allow increased production of testosterone, and this in turn may have beneficial health effects because of favourable effects on muscle mass. As muscle mass decreases, mortality increases in men, and so red meat may confer health benefits that are not often considered.
Dr Robert Barrington’s Nutritional Recommendation: Red meat is a healthy food as long as it is free from chemicals such as pesticides and growth factors. The Mediterranean diet, particularly that eaten in the south of France contains high amounts of fatty meat such as may come from game birds, and this appears to have no detrimental effects on health. In addition, the Massai consume large amount of red meat from sheep and goats and other foods with a high content of saturated fat. The maasai have very little evidence of cardiovascular disease amongst their populations.
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