But these researchers conducted what is known as a systematic review and meta-analysis (basically where they take a whole bunch of independent studies and compare all the results) on 20 research papers in this area looking for relationships between unprocessed red meat, processed meat, and total meat consumption with coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Guess what they found. Red meat intake was not associated with coronary heart disease or diabetes. However, processed meat intake was associated with a 42% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 19% higher risk of diabetes. Researchers also found that both red and processed meat consumption were not associated with incidence of stroke.
So what can we take from this research? The consumption of processed meats (like burgers, sausage, sausage rolls and generally anything out of a packet, microwave meal or ready meal) is certainly not great to eat, but eating red meats in the form of quality cuts of lamb, beef or other red meat is good to eat, especially if you shop for grass fed organic meat. Meat is a great source of protein, zinc and B vitamins so don’t be scared to eat it. Having said that it’s probably not wise to eat it every day – just balance what you eat with white meat, fish and seafood and you’ll benefit from a fantastic diet.
Tomorrow I’m going to discuss some myths about fruit, stay tuned.