Eating red meat will kill you, according to the results of a long term study released by the Harvard School of Public Health- Red Meat Consumption and Mortality. You can read the abstract here. The ‘findings’ of the study have been trumpeted on all the mainstream news outlets as the new holy grail of longevity.
From my perspective, the results are particularly interesting. But let me backtrack.
I’m mostly a vegetarian. Until my daughter married a cattle rancher last summer, I hadn’t eaten red meat in a very long time. I became a vegetarian when I was fourteen. But I’m not a food Nazi. I’m picky. I believe in whole foods - grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, home cooking, reasonable portions, and a limited intake of sugar and processed foods. In other words, I’m selective about what I eat, but I don’t deprive myself. If I want chocolate, I eat it. Because of our daughter and the quality of the beef she and her husband raise, my husband and I now include grass-fed beef in our diet, 2-4 times a month.
While I do believe a high intake of red meat may be associated with a higher incidence of certain diseases such as colon cancer, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, I remain a skeptic about the search for the elusive holy grail of longevity.
Many things we do or don’t do contribute to our overall health. Sometimes we don’t have to do anything to suffer cardiovascular disease. My brother-in-law races bikes, climbs mountains in Nepal and Tibet, is very careful about his diet, remains thin and fit, and yet his cholesterol is off the charts because he has familial high cholesterol. His own father had a heart attack and required a quadruple bypass at the age of forty.
Here’s an example of why I am skeptical about dietary pronouncements. It wasn’t long ago that researchers claimed Vitamin E was the answer to cancer and heart disease. Vitamin E has since been discredited. In fact, it seems the isolated intake of Vitamin E can actually cause cancer and heart disease.
So… on to the Harvard Study:
1. The study relied upon participants to accurately report their food intake over a period of many years. According to the study, the participants were drawn from a pool of healthcare providers. (In my experience, healthcare providers are not paragons of virtue when it comes to a healthy diet and exercise or activity, nor are they any better than you or I at accurately remembering what was eaten.) However, healthcare providers generally have access to healthcare so their healthcare needs could be monitored and recorded and therefore used in the study.
2. The study did not differentiate or discuss the source of the red meat consumed. In other words, a participant could have eaten every meal at a restaurant or a fast food joint. His or her meat consumption could have consisted of high fat, high sodium, high nitrate processed meats. While there was a discussion of processed meats, no attempt was made to determine if the meat consumed was derived from grass-fed cattle, fast food chains, feed-lot raised livestock, or imported red meats.
(It is an established fact that grass-fed beef is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than feed-lot raised beef. Foods rich in Omega-3′s (wild salmon and other fatty fish, and walnuts, for example) may provide some protection against heart disease and cancer. See Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.)
(In addition, Harvard professor of biological anthropology, Richard Wrangham, discusses diet (omnivorous) and the growth of the human brain and society in his fantastic book, Catching Fire, How Cooking Made Us Human. If you read a single non-fiction book in your lifetime, this is the book I would recommend.)
3. In the discussion itself there are no specifics provided regarding additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer, such as activity level, smoking, obesity, diabetes, genetic factors, high blood pressure- although a table is provided - Figure Two - which attempts to mathematically represent the contribution of these risk factors. My daughter could interpret the table, I can only surmise… What I would prefer is a detailed discussion of the following… Example: Although men and women who had a history of cardiovascular disease and cancer at baseline were excluded from the study, did smokers who ate red meat have more health problems than nonsmokers who ate read meat? Did smokers who ate red meat die at a younger age than nonsmokers who ate red meat? I would like to read about this sort of data in the discussion.
On the other hand, Figure One attempts to display the data and relate the findings to my above question. Figure One also seems to associate an increased risk of disease and death with an increased intake of red meat, i.e., an association between disease and death and the number of daily servings of red meat. In other words, the more daily servings the more deaths.
However, in the comment section, the authors of the study make clear that they don’t know why there appears to be a correlation between red meat and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Is it saturated fat? Heme intake? Nitrate and sodium intake? These are further questions that need to be addressed.
Look at it this way, in my humble opinion, one of the worst things to happen to our American diet in recent decades has been the low-fat craze. Remove fat and you not only lose flavor, you lose satiation. We’ve substituted sugar and simple carbs for fat. And we’ve gained weight. While studies like the Harvard study are interesting and may be the impetus for additional research, the big headlines stating that red meat will kill you are not helpful. I suspect eating meat in moderation as part of an overall healthy diet, is no more dangerous than eating fish in moderation or broccoli in moderation. Did you know, for instance, that some raw nuts contain natural toxins, and if eaten in excess can hurt your liver? Un-fermented soybeans are quite toxic.
A lot of things will kill you, including being born. So I say this - buckle your seatbelt, wear a helmet if you ride a motorcycle because as a nurse I’ve seen a whole lot of smashed heads. Try not to eat an entire cow every day, and be careful around ladders. And asparagus tastes great dipped in ketchup.
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I enjoy eating red meat a few times a month. I think anything is moderation is okay. If you’re eating a healthy diet otherwise.
That Harvard report made the news here in the UK too. For almost two days it was discussed and you had a procession of TV doctors singing it’s praises and not one of them looked at it or made the sensible comments that you have made. You really are quite a clever person aren’t you just apart from dipping your asparagus in bloody ketchup, you philistine …..
Lurv You
Oh, and by the way Ishbel and I eat red meat a couple of times a week in between lots of fish and chicken and vegetables and rice and pasta, so we are pretty much covered in terms of balanced diet. She drinks red wine by the bucket of course and I still smoke, but there you go….
In past years we eat far less meat of any kind, but it higher quality and the animals live as animals before they reach my table. I also try to buy locally from our butcher shop, instead of the supermarket.
I saw that study and noticed it neglected a entire part of the process. It claimed “all red meat was bad” but it didn’t take into account, where it came from, how it was processed, and how it was consumed.
I order free range Buffalo or Beef marrow bones from our local butcher. On the weekends I filled a large pot with the bones and a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, onions, veggies and every herb in the house and simmer those bones for several hours to make / freeze soup stock for the week ahead. We get all the minerals and good things back from the bones and I feel like I’m not wasting great food.
Isn’t this “red meat” experience somewhat different from a pink-slime commercial hamburger?
I think we need to get a little closer and more friendly with our food supply.
BTW that soup stock gets made into often meatless black beans, lentils, split pea soup etc…during the week. I make soup almost every day in winter.
XXOO Kat
Well, you know the saying “Life - no one gets out alive”. Thanks for information on that study. Weirdly, I was thinking about it while showering this morning, then I turned on my computer and saw your blog! (cue up the Twilight Zone music)
I think a sedentary lifestyle (in addition to all the high-fat, overly processed foods the average person eats) is a real killer. Not to mention stress (jobs, money, listening to the media tell you red meat will kill you), don’t help! Every weekend, I make my veggies ahead of time (I eat a lot of cold asparagus and squash!). And I make giant vat of lentil or bean soup for the week. Plus, I plan all our evening meals for the week to reduce take out trips. So it’s possible to eat healthy with a little preparation.
And I agree, use common sense. Buckle your seat belt - don’t text and drive (I mean, come on people!) and take time to smell the roses because you never know when your ride will end.
Never had asparagus and ketchup. Might try it…. Thanks lovely Julia!
1. As to the title of your post….not necessarily. Case in point: Zombies. You could live forever and eat all the red meat you want. It’s the perfect diet!
2. Excellent point about the source of red meat. Is it lean? Is it a McDonald’s hamburg? I still think Common Sense is the best health advice…exercise every day, and eat a healthy diet w/ a variety of foods.
I thought getting born killed yah … eventually. All the stuff in between? My philosophy: Enjoy and stop worrying unless someone is poisoning your food.
As for the studies: Remember someone’s trying to get tenure in the corporate university structure. They have to publish doom-scenarios so someone will pay attention.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to eat “pink slime” even if it didn’t poison me.
Enjoy St. Paddy’s day after St Urho’s day.
Hi Kay! Love your site. I agree, don’t worry too much unless it’s poison and I avoid any and all things slimy. Now I have to look up St. Urho’s Day.
But Penny, are Zombies really alive??? That is the question of the moment. Yup, commonsense, always a good choice!
Oh Casey - the most unsafe drivers in the world are those women who apply mascara while driving on the freeway! I agree totally. We do a lot of one-pot meals too, lots of beans and other legumes, veggies. A little meat goes a long way, especially if you season it properly.
I do love my veggies cooked for one minute and then chilled. Yum!
Kat, you and Casey! Yes, that’s the way to use your meat! I’m picky, but then I’ve always been picky. My father is a very picky eater - everything always has to be homemade. We weren’t allowed anything store-bought growing up.
So Tom, drink red wine or beer to counteract the smoking.
I’ve seen the photos of your meals. You are such a well-rounded cook. Learning to prepare meats has been a work in progress for me.
I agree, Amber… moderation. The key to all things aside from sex.
Everything will kill you at some point..I think the point is to eat with moderation…
We mostly eat one-pot meals because I am not an ambitious cook. Beans, peas, lentils, veggies w/ lean meat. Usually cooked in a cast iron pot. Really retro. For two of us, we usually have 1/4 pound of meat. Beef only one day a week.
I’m a big fan of beans, Anny. So are all my kids. And I love my cast iron pot - I have two. Very retro!
No kidding Savannah! LOL!
Penelope brings up a good point. What about zombies and ethical eating? Why should zombies be forced to eat substandard human brains in their cafeteria school lunches or pink-slime Mc-brain burgers? That’s just cruel to zombies! They deserve fresh organic free-range brains that have been allowed to roam free in the sunshine as happy brains before they are sucked from skulls or mashed into zombie brain salad, which I have a healthy recipe for… lol
XXOO Kat
Kat - ROTFLMAO!
Second your reply to Kat although as a very, very serious person I never ROTFLMAO. I add that all school lunches probably turn you into a Zombie.
Ha! Steph!
It is truely refreshing to hear someone critically review a research paper (constructively with reason) rather than blindly accept the findings of said paper from the vaunted Harvard! My husband & I are often frustrated by broad pronouncements based on research projects/studies that have so many variables that have not been accounted for. Thank you for your books and posts-I have enjoyed both. PS-We sadly call motorcyclists without helmets ‘organ donors’.
Hi Kim. Thanks for your comment. Yes, I do know all about that unfortunate, but apt, description of motorcyclists without helmets. I think the issue with these studies is when the press grabs them and runs with them as though they are the gospel truth - until the next big study is released.
Good blog, Julia, lots of info. For me it comes down to moderation. Well, it would if I were a meat eater:)