Red Meat and CHD Risk

Red meat is a major component of diets throughout the U.S. and is often part of the main course. Many American households have large red meat centered dinners at least once a week and it is a staple within the fast food industry. It is well known that high consumption of red meat contributes to high cholesterol but how does it contribute to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk?

A meta-analysis was conducted to determine how eating meat impacts the risk of developing CHD and the results were rather surprising. In this 2010 meta-analysis, six observational studies were conducted which include 614,062 participants and 21,308 events that evaluated processed meat consumption and incident of CHD. Each 50 gram serving per day was associated with 42% higher risk of CHD than those who did not eat as much meat.(Micha)

To put it into perspective, 1 slice of holiday ham, 2 slices of bacon, 1–2 slices of roast beef, 1 sausage, or 2.5 slices of baloney is about 50 grams. That’s a sandwich or less worth of processed/unprocessed meats. The typical American diet can consist of 50 grams alone during lunch with additional meat at dinner. Based on the above data, there is a much greater risk of CHD for these families.

For patients with increased risk of CHD, dietary changes or restrictions should be implemented early. These restrictions can also limit the risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes due to often associated with high red meat intake.

Source:

Micha, R., Michas, G., & Mozaffarian, D. (2012). Unprocessed red and processed meats and risk of coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes — an updated review of the evidence. Current atherosclerosis reports, 14(6), 515–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-012-0282-8