|
Too Much Red Meat May Increase
Heart Failure Risk
Eating too much red meat may increase the risk of
heart failure by 24 per cent, according to a data from
American male physicians.
An average of 9.5 servings of red meat per week was
associated with a significant increase in heart failure risk,
compared with only 1.5 servings per week, according to data
from 21,120 men participating in the Physicians’ Health Study.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate
the relationship between red meat consumption and HF risk in
a large cohort,” state the researchers in Nutrition, Metabolism
and Cardiovascular Diseases.
Bad Press For Meat Products
The study is yet more bad news to the meat industry, following
previous reports that consumption of red meat may increase the
risk of certain cancers. Such reports are negatively impacting on
the industry, according to a recent survey commissioned by the
World Cancer Research Fund that found that over 10 per cent
of people have tried to cut down on processed meat intake.
The survey was commissioned one year after the fund published
a report that claimed that eating 150g of processed meat a day
increased the risk of bowel cancer by 63 per cent.
Study Details
A research team from Division of Aging, Department of Medicine,
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analysed data from
seemingly healthy men with an average age of 54.6. Crunching
the numbers revealed that men with the highest average intake
of red meat (almost 10 servings per week) were at a 24 per cent
higher risk of heart failure than men with the lowest average
weekly intakes.
Commenting on the potential mechanism, the researchers note
that the saturated fat and cholesterol content of red meat may
increase the risks of both high blood pressure (hypertension)
and coronary heart disease, both of which are risk factors for
heart failure.
“Further examination underlying mechanisms and of the
relationship between red meat consumption and incident heart
failure in the general population is warranted,” they concluded.
Source: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
(Published online)
“Red meat consumption and risk of heart failure in
male physicians”
| |