The Study
Relevance of physical function in the association of red and processed meat intake with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality.
This study looked at a bunch of people and saw that those who ate more red and processed meat tended to die a bit more often over 7 years. But it didn't make people change their diets — it just watched what they already did. So we can't say meat kills people — only that it's linked to higher death rates in this group.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at whether being physically fit changes how much meat affects your risk of dying.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 552 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The increased risk is very small — even for people eating meat daily, the extra chance of dying is tiny, and being active like brisk walking may help reduce it.
- 2Each extra serving of red or processed meat per week slightly raised the risk of dying: by about 3% for all causes, 3% for heart disease, and 3% for cancer.
- 3But people who walked briskly had even smaller risks from meat.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD
Year
2019
Authors
Stavroula Argyridou, F. Zaccardi, M. Davies, K. Khunti, T. Yates
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat meat have health outcomes that are neither worse nor better than those who eat less meat, after accounting for differences in income, education, and daily habits.
Eating one additional serving per week of red or processed meat is linked to a 3.7% higher risk of dying from any cause, a 3.0% higher risk of dying from heart disease, and a 2.9% higher risk of dying from cancer among middle-aged adults who have not had cancer or heart disease.
People who walk briskly show a slightly weaker link between eating red and processed meat and dying from cancer compared to those who walk slowly, based on a hazard ratio of 1.015.
The strength of a person's handgrip does not change the relationship between eating red and processed meat and the risk of death.
People who eat more red and processed meat have a very slightly higher chance of dying over time compared to those who eat less, with each extra serving per week linked to a tiny increase in risk.
People who walk briskly have a weaker link between eating red and processed meat and dying from any cause or cancer compared to people who walk slowly.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.