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Eating Processed Meats Can Raise Risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes

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This article originally posted 24 May, 2010 and appeared in

Issue 523

Eating Processed Meats Can Raise Risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes

Eating bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed meats can raise the risk

of heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers said in a study that

identifies

the real culprits at the meat counter....

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Eating unprocessed beef, pork or lamb appeared not to raise risks of heart

attacks and diabetes, they said, suggesting that salt and chemical

preservatives

may be the real cause of these two health problems associated with eating

meat.

Renata Micha of the Harvard School of Public Health stated that the study,

an analysis of other research called a meta-analysis, did not look at high

blood

pressure or cancer, which are also linked with high meat consumption.

" To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should consider which

types of meats they are eating.... Processed meats such as bacon, salami,

sausages,

hot dogs and processed deli meats may be the most important to avoid, " Micha

said in a statement.

Based on her findings, she said people who eat one serving per week or less

of processed meats have less of a risk.

The American Meat Institute objected to the findings, saying it was only one

study and that it stands in contrast to other studies and the U.S. Dietary

Guidelines for Americans. " At best, this hypothesis merits further study. It

is certainly no reason for dietary changes, " Hodges, president of the

American Meat Institute, said in a statement.

Most dietary guidelines recommend eating less meat. Individual studies

looking at relationships between eating meat and cardiovascular diseases and

diabetes

have had mixed results. But studies rarely look for differences in risk

between processed and unprocessed red meats, Micha said.

She and colleagues did a systematic review of nearly 1,600 studies from

around the world looking for evidence of a link between eating processed and

unprocessed

red meat and the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They defined processed

meat as any meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or with the

addition

of chemical preservatives. Meats in this category included bacon, salami,

sausages, hot dogs or processed deli or luncheon meats.

Unprocessed red meat included beef, lamb or pork but not poultry.

They found that on average, each 1.8 oz (50 grams) daily serving of

processed meat a day -- one to two slices of deli meats or one hot dog --

was associated

with a 42 percent higher risk of heart disease and a 19 percent higher risk

of developing diabetes.

They found no higher heart or diabetes risk in people who ate only

unprocessed red meats. The team adjusted for a number of factors, including

how much

meat people ate. They said lifestyle factors were similar between those who

ate processed and unprocessed meats.

" When we looked at average nutrients in unprocessed red and processed meats

eaten in the United States, we found that they contained similar average

amounts

of saturated fat and cholesterol, " Micha said. " In contrast, processed meats

contained, on average, four times more sodium and 50 percent more nitrate

preservatives, " Micha added.

Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk of Incident Coronary Heart

Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Mellitus. A Systematic Review and

Meta-Analysis. " Renata