(Wall Street Journal) Maybe that juicy steak you ordered isn’t a heart-attack-on-a-plate after all.
A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that the heart risk long associated with red meat comes mostly from processed varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and cold cuts—and not from steak, hamburgers and other non-processed cuts.
The finding is surprising because both types of red meat are high in saturated fat, a substance believed to be partly responsible for the increased risk of heart disease. But the new study raises the possibility that when it comes to meat, at least, the real bad actor may be salt. Processed meats generally have about four times the amount of salt as unprocessed meats.
Processed meats such as bacon and sausage have four times the amount of salt as steak and hamburgers.
In a report that pooled data from 20 different studies from around the world, the researchers found that daily consumption of about two ounces of processed meat was associated with a 42% increased risk of heart disease and a 19% heightened chance of diabetes. By contrast, a four-ounce daily serving of red meat from beef, hamburger, pork, lamb or game wasn’t linked to any increased risk of heart disease. There was, however, a small, but statistically insignificant risk of diabetes.
While the study is far from definitive, researchers said the findings suggest that people, especially those already at risk of heart problems or with high blood pressure, should consider reducing consumption of bacon, processed ham, hot dogs and other packaged meats that have a high salt content. Salt increases blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
“The conventional wisdom is that red meats have higher saturated fat and cholesterol levels,” factors that have made all red meats potential culprits in raising the risk of cardiovascular disease, said Renata Micha, a research fellow in the Harvard School of Public Health’s epidemiology department. “But when you try to separate processed from unprocessed meats, you get an entirely different picture.” She is lead author of the study, which appears in Tuesday’s issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
(8 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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Doesn’t the Harvard School know that bacon and sausage does not come from red meat. Most of the time hotdogs don’t either. Most of us know that processed foods should not be consumed.
How right Billie! Plus red meat even chicken has the same cholosterol levels which should not be consumed either. I have been on as much animal fat free as possible and feel a whole lot better and my blood pressure has gone down to normal levels along with taking Krill Oil, Bonito Peptide, exercise and breathing. The more I read this website and that idiot Rowena the more i realize Resperate isn’t getting the right advice
Just took my husband to oncologist today and realize after reading this that oncologist and cardiologist must be attending the same conventions that suggest they should collect all the money they can get. Keep the patients sick and coming back. By all means tell every one that meat doesn’t hurt them. Just eat, eat, eat. I have been a vegan since my heart attack, have survived 9 years without incident, no by pass either. All my family members died after 6 years or less with difficulty all the while. I suggest if it is not a low fat lifestyle that works it sure doesn’t hurt. They tried using that salt thing as an excuse about 30 years ago. It didn’t seem to be the answer so they went to red meat.
If you want to look at more beneficial meats, look up buffalo. Far better than beef or even chicken.