Association of red meat consumption with the incidence of cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Background: Red meat, processed and unprocessed, has been associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, heart failure (HF), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Despite these adverse effects, it is still, highly consumed by the people of developed counties and increasingly consumed by the people of developing countries. Aims: The aim of the paper was to review the current evidence on the effects of processed and unprocessed red meat consumption on the incidence of CVD, stroke, HF, and T2DM. Materials and Methods: A Medline search of the English language literature was conducted between 2010 and April 2020 using the terms, red meat, white meat, processed meat, unprocessed meat, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus and 22 pertinent papers were retrieved. Results: The analysis of results from these papers reveled that high red meat, especially processed meat consumption, is significantly associated with an increased risk of CVD, stroke, HF, and T2DM regardless of age, sex, or ethnicity. Discussion: The results of the studies retrieved, revealed that there is a controversy regarding the association of red meat consumption with an increased incidence of CVD. This controversy is due to the conflicting findings of the studies reviewed, with several studies showing no association, whereas others sowing an association, especially in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Conclusion: There is regarding the association of red meat consumption with the incidence of CVD due to conflicting results of the various studies. Moderate red meat consumption showed no association with CVD in healthy subjects, but an association in high CVD risk subjects. Therefore, subjects at high cardiovascular risk should refrain from high red meat consumption and increase the intake healthier foods high in fiber content.