Red Meat is Still a Deadly Choice

by Vic Shayne, PhD

If you eat a lot of red meat in your diet, here’s some news you may not like. Red meat has been once again shown to increase your chances of an early death as well as contracting a life-threatening disease.

Archives of Internal Medicine reports researchers from the US’ National Cancer Institute (NCI) have re-established that increased consumption of red and processed meat may lead to higher risk of death from all causes as well as  from cancer or heart disease.

Meat may increase death rate by forming cancer-causing compounds during high-temperature cooking and providing a source of unwanted high levels of saturated fats. Low intake of red meats have been associated with reduced risks of heart disease.

If you eat white meat instead, there’s a slightly lower risk for total death, death from cancer and death from causes other than heart disease or cancer.

Men and women eating the highest amount of red meat were found to have a 31 percent and 36 percent, respectively, higher risk of dying from any cause than those eating the least amount.

People whose diets contained more white meat like chicken and fish had lower risks of death.