The Study
Total Meat Intake is Associated with Life Expectancy: A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis of 175 Contemporary Populations
This study looked at countries and noticed that places where people eat more meat also tend to live longer. But it didn’t follow any single person — it just compared whole countries. So we can’t say eating meat makes you live longer, only that countries with more meat and longer lives tend to go together.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at how much meat people eat in 175 countries and how long people live there. They found that countries where people eat more meat tend to have people who live longer — even when they account for wealth, education, and how much junk food people eat.
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 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this suggests that meat may play a key role in supporting longer lives globally, even in poor or vegetarian-heavy countries.
- 2Countries with higher meat intake had life expectancies up to 10+ years longer on average.
- 3Carbohydrates like rice and bread showed no link to longer life.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International Journal of General Medicine
Year
2022
Authors
Wenpeng You, R. Henneberg, A. Saniotis, Yanfei Ge, M. Henneberg
Related Content
Claims (5)
People who eat more meat tend to live longer, and this pattern is seen in both rich and poor countries, as well as in many different cultures.
Countries with higher meat consumption tend to have higher life expectancy at birth, even when accounting for differences in calorie intake, urbanization, obesity rates, education, and income.
In countries where many people eat vegetarian diets, those who eat more meat still tend to live longer, and this pattern cannot be explained by how many vegetarians live there.
Across countries, differences in life expectancy are not explained by how much people eat from carbohydrate crops like rice, wheat, or corn, once differences in meat consumption and other factors are accounted for.
Populations that consume more meat tend to have longer average lifespans, even when accounting for differences in income, education, and other socioeconomic factors.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.