Study highlights risk in eating meat

A new study has shown that people are at a higher risk of death when they eat animal protein compared with eating plant-based protein. In the work published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers led by Dr. Mingyang Song of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and his colleagues said protein […]

A new study has shown that people are at a higher risk of death when they eat animal protein compared with eating plant-based protein.
In the work published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers led by Dr. Mingyang Song of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and his colleagues said protein sources influence other components of diet, including macronutrients, micronutrients, and phytochemicals, that can in turn influence health outcomes.
Dr. Song and colleagues examined data from two large studies in the United States that used repeated measures of diet through food questionnaires as well as 32 years of follow-up.
The results of the study showed that  every 10 percent increase in animal protein from total calories was linked with a 2 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 8 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
The researcher said although substituting plant foods for various animal foods was associated with a lower mortality, red meat, especially processed red meat, showed a much stronger association than fish and poultry, which themselves were not associated with mortality.
 “Substitution of plant protein for animal protein, especially from processed red meat, may confer substantial health benefit.” “Therefore, public health recommendations should focus on improvement of protein sources,” they concluded.