Total red meat intake is not consistently associated with a dose-response relationship with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in adult populations from Southern Italy, indicating that total red meat consumption alone does not strongly predict MASLD prevalence in this population.

When people eat red meat, the iron in it builds up in the liver and creates harmful molecules that damage cells. At the same time, cooking the meat at high heat creates other harmful compounds that make the liver less responsive to insulin. This causes the liver to make more fat and stop burning fat, leading to fat buildup in liver cells. Men are more affected because they store more fat around their organs, which floods the liver with fat, while women store fat under the skin, which protects their liver. The amount of grains eaten with the meat also matters — eating too many grains with red meat makes blood sugar and insulin spike even more, worsening fat buildup.