Association of changes in red meat consumption with total and cause specific mortality among US women and men: two prospective cohort studies
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of changes in red meat consumption with total and cause specific mortality in women and men. DESIGN: Two prospective cohort studies with repeated measures of diet and lifestyle factors. SETTING: Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, United States. PARTICIPANTS: 53 553 women and 27 916 men without cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Death confirmed by state vital statistics records, the national death index, or reported by families and the postal system. RESULTS: 14 019 deaths occurred during 1.2 million person years of follow-up. Increases in red meat consumption over eight years were associated with a higher mortality risk in the subsequent eight years among women and men (both P for trend<0.05, P for heterogeneity=0.97). An increase in total red meat consumption of at least half a serving per day was associated with a 10% higher mortality risk (pooled hazard ratio 1.10, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.17). For processed and unprocessed red meat consumption, an increase of at least half a serving per day was associated with a 13% higher mortality risk (1.13, 1.04 to 1.23) and a 9% higher mortality risk (1.09, 1.02 to 1.17), respectively. A decrease in consumption of processed or unprocessed red meat of at least half a serving per day was not associated with mortality risk. The association between increased red meat consumption and mortality risk was consistent across subgroups defined by age, physical activity, dietary quality, smoking status, or alcohol consumption. CONCLUSION: Increases in red meat consumption, especially processed meat, were associated with higher overall mortality rates.
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Substantial evidence from randomized trials and observational studies suggests that high consumption of red meat, especially processed red meat, is associated with an increased risk of mortality and major chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease.
“Substantial evidence from randomized trials and observational studies suggests that high consumption of red meat, especially processed red meat, is associated with an increased risk of mortality1 2 3 and major chronic diseases,4 5 6 7 8 9 including coronary heart disease (CHD).10 11 12”
From Red meat intake and risk of coronary heart disease among US men: prospective cohort study (2020) · cites this paper as [1]
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- Authors
- Zheng, Y., Li, Y., Satija, A., Pan, A., Sotos-Prieto, M., Rimm, E., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hu, Frank B
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2019-06-12
- Volume
- 365
- Pages
- l2110
- ISSN
- 1756-1833 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6559336
- OpenAlex
- W2952668899
- Cited by
- 211
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 6
- FWCI
- 26.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL060712, R01HL071981, R21HL126024, R01HL034594)
- National Cancer Institute (UM1CA186107, UM1CA167552)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK100383, R01DK091718, P30DK046200, R01DK078616, R01DK112940)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Meat and Animal Product Quality
- Keywords
- red meat consumption, processed meat, unprocessed red meat, mortality, cause-specific mortality, dietary change, Nurses' Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, sex differences, cardiovascular disease, cancer
- MeSH terms
- Red Meat, Adult, Aged, Cause of Death, Feeding Behavior, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Health Personnel, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, United States, Survival Rate, Proportional Hazards Models
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