Red Meat Absolved as Cause of Heart Disease

Meat lovers everywhere can rejoice. A new study has vindicated red meat as a direct cause of heart disease. Previously, red meat was believed to increase a person’s risk of heart disease and many nutritionists and doctors recommended people drastically reduce their intake of the tasty food. It turns out processed meat is the culprit, not a juicy steak.

The study was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers for the study combined information from 20 different international studies that had been previously completed. After evaluating all the information, researchers discovered that people who consumed just 2 ounces of processed meat had a 42 percent higher risk of developing heart disease. Processed meat also increased a person’s risk of diabetes by 19 percent.

Those that consumed 4 ounces of red meat from a hamburger, lamb, beef, pork or game had no increase in heart health risk. Researchers did notice a very minor, insignificant higher risk of diabetes in those that consumed the red meat.

Red meat is higher in saturated fat than processed meat, but processed meat is much higher in salt. It is estimated processed meat products have about 4 times the amount of salt than a cut of meat. Researchers recommend a person prone to heart disease and those with high blood pressure reduce or cut out processed meats. Some things many people may not appreciate losing from their diet include bacon, sausage and deli meats.

The study has been published in the American Heart Association journal.

source: techjackel