Meat and Mortality: a study

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The Study:  Meat consumption and mortality – results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
The Facts:
The study looked at the association between consumption of processed vs. unprocessed red meats, poultry, and the risk of early death.
  • This was a very large study which followed 448,568 men and women, ages 35-69 years, with no prior history of cancer, stroke, or myocardial infarction.
  • The cohort of patients was obtained from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) which recruited patients from 10 different European countries between 1992 and 2000.
  • Individuals with very high or very low levels of activity (top/bottom 1%) were excluded.
  • Smokers, including those with an unknown smoking status, were also excluded. 
  • At the time of inclusion into the original EPIC cohort, participants were questioned extensively with self administered dietary questionnaires which provided data on 300+ different foods depending on the country in which the participants lived.
  • 26,344 deaths were observed in the patient cohort as of June 2009,
  • Regression analysis was performed to differentiate between the over all risk of death (“all cause hazard ratio”) and “cause specific” mortality risks which could be attributed to the consumption of particular foods…for example the consumption of unprocessed red meats vs. processed red meats.

Take Home: Although very high consumption levels of red meat were associated with a slightly increased risk of cancer, the degree of risk was determined to be statistically insignificant. Consumption of unprocessed red meats and poultry were not associated with any increased risk of death. 

However, the study did find a significantly increased risk for death due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and “other causes” associated with consumption of processed meats. The authors concluded that 3.3% of deaths could be prevented if all participants reduced consumption of processed meats to a level of 20 g/day or less.

Processed meats: those you find in a deli or a fast-food place.  

Unprocessed meats: what you buy in the grocery and prepare yourself.

Dr. Lane’s Comments:. Previous studies which have compared meat eaters to vegetarians have indicated that meat consumption was associated with a higher mortality risk. However, previous studies did not differentiate between processed and unprocessed meat consumption. This is a very large study and worth paying attention to because it indicates that meat itself may not be the nutritional evil it has been made out to be. 

It now seems more likely that additives to processed meats such as preservatives, heme iron, l-carnitine, nitrites etc are likely to be more sinister culprits.
Many, if not most, of your patients probably eat red meats and poultry as a regular portion of their dietary intake. Getting patients to make major lifestyle changes is always tough. This study indicates most patients could probably benefit by simply reducing their intake of processed meat products to 20g or less per day.
Reference: Rohrmaann S, Overvad K, et al. Meat consumption and mortality-results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, BMC Medicine 2013, 11:63

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