Red meat can lead to early death, study says

[Mari333]

March 26 2009
WASHINGTON — Eating red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely, according to a large federal study that offers powerful new evidence that a diet that regularly includes steaks, burgers and pork chops is hazardous to your health.

The study of more than 500,000 middle-age and elderly Americans found that those who consumed the equivalent of about a small hamburger every day were more than 30 percent more likely to die during the 10 years they were followed, mostly from heart disease and cancer.

Sausage, cold cuts and other processed meats also increased the risk. But routine consumption of fish, chicken, turkey and other poultry decreased the risk of death by a small amount, the study found.







http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008911846_medical24.html

[flvegan]

1. In early!

:popcorn:

[leftstreet]

2. You beat me!

:popcorn:

[Mari333]

3. lol

:popcorn:

[bbinacan]

4. Well lead me

to an early death. I like my steaks medium rare. These dumbass posts always make me hungry.

[donheld]

5. I know many in my family at a lot of red meat. They died prematurely

at ages 90+

[DainBramaged]

6. My Mom is 92, still hanging in there, hamburger every couple of days

I have always wondered about the word "prematurely" and what would happen if we used the word "maturely" in referencing death. Otherwise, I'm popping more popcorn. As the author stated elsewhere "I'm sending this article to a lot of people". Like none.

[petronius]

9. That's a good question - I suppose it means 'earlier than average',

but the average wouldn't be the average if some deaths didn't come earlier... :shrug:

[flvegan]

12. You know DB, I have no doubts about your mom and I'm glad she's still with us at 92.

That is an achievement and I hope she reaches 192.

Thing is, "meat" for her during her first 70 years...much different. Ask her.

[Ron Green]

7. Here come the anecdotes. So much more fun than science.

[Recovered Repug]

8. Being a vegetarian doesn't make you live longer.

It just makes it seem that way.

[vadawg]

10. just like being a married man, life just seems longer.

[Vektor]

17. Unless you're married to the right person.

In which case, a million eternities together seems painfully, cruelly brief.

That said, any married man claiming that being married "just makes life seem longer" ought to ask himself if he should be married at all. One does have a choice in the matter, after all. Chances are, his wife is not thrilled about being unappreciated, either.

[flvegan]

11. Nutrition is a funny thing.

Nothing "makes" anyone live longer. Too many variables. But, when one looks at the specifics of a topic...

Well, I'll leave you to that.

[Richard Steele]

13. So what the fuck DOESN'T lead to early death?

I smoke 2 packs a day, I drink 5 cases of beer per week,
I cook meals that would make every light on the Weight-Watchers
planetary alert system blow their bulbs...

I graduated from a small school with 86 other people.
5 of them were dead within 12 months, and none of their deaths
were traffic-related.

26 years later, here I sit: smoking and drinking, drinking and smoking...
and the only actual EXERSIZE I've had in the last 10 years
was when I carried 8 pounds worth of '1895 Winchester'
through the woods in a hunt for fresh red meat.


I've already lived longer than a few million teetotaling vegetarians
ever will, and I OUTLIVED them the day I made my first pot of squirrel stew.

Die young, die old...no one gives a rat's ass in the end.


If you ain't dead yet, then go ahead and LIVE, you magnificent bastards.!
LIVE like you know for a fact that you're gonna DIE someday.

[Mari333]

20. wow, only someone named dick steele could write that nt

[chatnoir]

24. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[Mari333]

28. oh i love your st francis quote

its so true.

[chatnoir]

42. Thank you!

:hi:

And that Dick Steele comment made me do a Chris Matthews 'Ha!'

[AllieB]

14. I wonder if they were eating tons of sugar and white bread in their normal diets.

These 'studies' are BS.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. OK With Me

I'm not interested in living forever.
GAC

[TahitiNut]

19. You, me, and ...

... Conan neither. (Pssst. Pass the lasagna verde.)



:rofl:

[knitter4democracy]

16. I wonder what they considered red meat.

Bison has more Omega 3 than salmon and is lower in fat than skinless chicken. The only meat that comes close to its protein and fat levels is elk. Venison is extremely low in fat (which is why a lot of processors mix the ground venison with sausage or hamburger--ours doesn't, and I like it that way), lower than chicken or turkey (I'm sure there's data to back that up--I base that on cooking with them all and having almost burnt venison when I haven't with chicken or turkey).

Which sources of meat? Locally-raised pasture-fed beef? Pork from small family-owned farms? Other studies say there's a difference in nutritional make-up, so the sources would have an influence on the study.

What were they eating when they weren't eating red meat? Are people who eat the equivalent of a small hamburger a day also more likely to eat processed food? How much sugar and salt were they taking in?

I hate studies like this that make massive assumptions and don't deal with the variables.

[doc03]

18. Science says eating red meat

leads to an early death, the consensus seems to be they are full of shit. Science blames human activities for climate change they are absolutely right and if you happen disagree you are full of shit.:eyes:

[ArchieStone1]

21. concensus?

Please explain?

[Mari333]

27. I do my own studies with my bio family

I am the oldest of 6 kids. I am almost 60.
next in line is my sis..shes a yr younger then me, eats lots of red meat.
next is my brother, eats lots of red meat.
next my other brother, eats lots of red meat.
next my sis, eats lots of red meat.
next my little bro, eats lots of red meat.
both sisters have had fibroid tumours and complete hysterectomies.
one brother has vascular stasis , ulcers on his legs, no circulation, cannot walk more then 10 feet.
one brother has had quadruple bypass.
mom has had quadruple bypass (she eats lots of red meat)
all of them are obese. not overweight, obese. over 300 lbs or close to it.
one brother is losing weight because of the heart surgery
I am older then all of them except my mom.
I have nothing wrong with me. I eat some processed food and drink coffee and occasionally smoke.
I dont eat meat or dairy. havent for many years.
I am thin, and my BP is perfect. I have perfect cholesterol.
I dont care about how many yrs I add on to my life. I could care less about that.
I do want a reasonably good quality of life, tho. I want to be able to walk more then 10 feet.
I can walk for miles .
I dont know what any of this has to do with diet, but my own personal study sees the only difference between my bio family and me is that I dont eat meat and they do.
of course, to each their own, I fully respect everyones choices.

[AllieB]

29. Do they also eat a lot of white flour and sugar?

There's your culprit. Are they eating red meat loaded with hormones, or red meat that's grass fed or from small farms? There are many variables. If you're going to provide anecdotal evidence, I can also:

My grandparents lived into their 90s and ate red meat no less than 3x a week. They were very moderate in their consumption of sweets and starches. When my grandmother, who was never more than 10 lbs over the weight on the day she was married, wanted to lose weight, she 'cut out starches and sugar'. That was the common belief among that generation. Fat doesn't make you fat.

My mother is slim and 67. She has no health problems and eats red meat 2-3x a week. My father is 75 with no health problems and obviously eats what my mother cooks him. He is also really healthy.

I was an elite runner for most of my teens and twenties, and ended up nearly diabetic and a good 30 pounds overweight when I decided to cut out meat and dairy. My triglycerides were through the roof. When I cut out wheat and grains, and my health improved. My blood pressure is low and my cholesterol is perfect (my HDL is 80!). I'm in New England and eat a lot of fish, but I also eat chicken, lamb and beef at least 3x a week.

[Mari333]

30. yes the variables should be considered

they are poor, so I am sure they eat hormone laden meat and dairy. add to that a lot of starches and sugars. poverty diet I guess. Oddly enough, I save a lot of money by substituting legumes as my protein source. beans beans beans. cheap n easy.
thanks for sharing. sounds like you are doing well and wisely so.

[AllieB]

33. The poverty diet is what's killing America. Cheap carbs like pasta and ramen

and potatoes, not to mention the sugar that they put in nearly every processed food, has given rise to the diabetes epidemic. Good meat and vegetables are expensive. Pasta and ramen can easily and cheaply feed a family for several meals. That's why there appears to be a class distinction between the rich and thin and the poor and fat: access to healthy, fresh food and the ability to afford it.

[doc03]

34. About two years ago my next door neighbor who was

77 at the time and a picture of health told me about his family of longlivers on both sides. His mother lived into her 90's and her siblings all lived into there 90's even one made it to 100. Same thing on his father's side. It wasn't a week later his wife called me one morning and said John had passed away. He had indigestion during the night, he got up and went to the living room and sat in the recliner, she got up a hour or so later when their son called and wanted to talk to dad. She goes in to wake him up and he is deader than a door nail. Anyway he had gone to the doctor the day before and the doctor who was much younger told him he wished he was in good shape as him. So even though your family may be longlivers doesn't necessarily mean you will live longer. I don't drink, don't smoke, eat mostly poultry and fish and have had health problems for the last 4 years. My brother is an alcoholic, smokes and has the worst diet you can imagine and he is 6 years older than me with no health problems. By the way I have thought myself that American's diet of red meat is bad, just look at people who come here from other cultures that rarely have heart problems once they are on our diet a while they die at the same rate we do.

[HamdenRice]

22. I've lost my taste for red meat and I don't know why

I'm not a vegetarian or vegan by any means, but I just don't find red meat or meat in general as tasty as I used to (except for pork).

I began to notice this maybe 10 years ago at a Thanksgiving dinner. I found myself loading up on the sides and barely eating any turkey. That's been the pattern really. When I cook a meat centered meal, I tend to eat the veggies and starch and just taste the meat.

That said, I sometimes have strong pork craving. I still love fatty cuts, like pork shoulder and pork chops, or the fatty part of a cheap chuck steak.

I definitely don't eat meat every day, but somedays I'll eat nothing but meat, even for days. I guess -- and I know this sounds flakey -- I'm listening to what my body wants and eating it.

[Stevenmarc]

23. Good, then I can't think of a more tasty way to die, fire up the rib eye.

[The Straight Story]

25. We should encourage it then

Help reduce the population and save the earth! WOOHOO - eat red meat, smoke, drink.

Now we are talking.

[mainer]

26. "increased risk of mortality" -- you have to laugh at that!

You know what's the biggest "risk of mortality"? Being alive.

Too bad the article doesn't address the effects of eating beef, say, once or twice a week. Which is what most people probably eat.

[edbermac]

43. So if we don't eat read meat, we'll live for thousands of years?

And wind looking like Yoda?



Screw that...I'm off to Burger King to get a couple of Triple Whoppers with extra bacon. :9

[D-Lee]

31. Nonsense. Here are some comments on this "research" report

Here is a comment on the low level of probity of the study design, which also contains references to research indicating that vegetarians do not have longer lives:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/fast-food/meat-and-mortality/

The following blog is of interest and echoes the comment above that no other dietary intakes (such as carbohydrates) were tracked:
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2009/03/that-meat-study-also-found-red-meat.html

Oh, how one wishes that science reporting in the popular press involved critical thinking and something other than what appears to be re-writing press releases ...

[flvegan]

32. Dr. Michael R. Eades is a low-carb huckster quack.

Just an FYI. Your second link is an echo chamber for such quackery.

Nonsense indeed.

[AllieB]

35. Says you.

Dean Ornish is a quack also. You link to a lot of websites others would consider quackery. To each his opinion. What works for you is great. It doesn't work for thers.

[yewberry]

36. Wait, Dean Ornish is a "quack?"

The Dean Ornish whose program is proven to reverse heart disease? And halt the progression of prostate cancer?

The guy with the "National Public Health Hero" award, the Jan J. Kellermann Memorial Award for distinguished contribution in the field of cardiovascular disease prevention from the International Academy of Cardiology, a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, the Beckmann Medal from the German Society for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases, the "Pioneer in Integrative Medicine" award from California Pacific Medical Center, the "Excellence in Integrative Medicine" award from the Heal Breast Cancer Foundation, the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, a U.S. Army Surgeon General Medal, and the Bravewell Collaborative Pioneer of Integrative Medicine award?

I think we must be using different definitions of "quack."

[D-Lee]

40. Choose your food based on choices and needs is more my message

FLVegan, you have chosen vegan and have many fine interests.

The point of my post is that the claim of a general negative impact of red meat on lifespan and health is not supported by the well-designed research (however, as to meats cured with nitrates and/or nitrites, there IS scientific documentation from well designed studies that significant monthly consumption does have an effect on lung health, proportional to the frequency of consumption -- applying to bacon, ham, etc., meaning it would be better to can find such products free of such ingredients if one eats them).

It is great that you have no problems with higher carbohydrate consumption. Others do.

Problems with high carbohydrate diets are particularly clear for many diabetics. The second link I have is to the blog of Jenny Ruhl, the author of a well regarded book entitled "Blood Sugar 101" -- the information on that book is available at this Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sugar-101-About-Diabetes/dp/0964711613
Some of the same information from the same author can be read here: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
And here is the link to her low carb web page: http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/

So, I'm not arguing for or against meat consumption, just saying this research shouldn't factor into weighing choices and/or needs.

[rd_kent]

37. Well, I guess Im living my last moments.....

and if so, I'm having a BIG ASS STEAK as my last meal. Where is my grill?

[lumberjack_jeff]

38. I'm pretty sure I'm made of white meat.

So, like the spamalopes, I remain calm but wary.

[Arugula Latte]

41. Soylent Jeff?

[notadmblnd]

39. Breaking: Living can lead to death

[alarimer]

44. Everybody dies sooner or later.

Define "early". If that's just a few years or months sooner, than no big deal to me.

I figure that you might as well enjoy life. It's probably not a whole lot of fun being 100 years old. All those extra years (if any, because I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so my meat eating would be irrelevant then) come at the end, when there isn't much fun to be had, I would think.

[dansolo]

45. Did they isolate other variables?

These types of studies are worthless if they don't factor in things like amount of exercise, weight (obesity), and family history. I'm sure that consuming a large amount of red meat is probably not the best diet to have, but I would think that the equivalent of a small hamburger per day is not as significant as they suggest.