Meat Consumption Raises Risk of Pneumonia, Heart Disease, & Diabetes In Large-Scale Oxford Study
Study marks the first time that researchers have established a relationship between meat consumption and the risk of developing risk of non-cancerous diseases such as pneumonia.
SALLY HO: Regularly eating meat has been linked to a wide range of diseases including pneumonia, diabetes and heart disease, finds a new large-scale study conducted by British researchers. Notably, the study found an association between meat consumption and nine non-cancerous illnesses, many of them not considered in previous research. The latest findings add to the plethora of data linking high meat consumption with negative health outcomes.
According to a large-scale, population-level study conducted by Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) researchers, regular meat consumption is linked to a higher risk of a number of illnesses. The study was published on Tuesday (March 2) in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Medicine.
The research, which monitored 25 major causes of non-cancerous hospital admissions among 475,000 adults in the U.K. recruited into the nationwide Biobank study, found higher consumption of both unprocessed red meat and processed meat combined was associated with higher risks of ischaemic heart disease, pneumonia, diverticular disease, colon polyps, and diabetes.
While participants who tended to consume meat regularly were more likely than low meat-eaters to smoke, drink alcohol and considered overweight or obese, these factors were taken into account by the researchers. Those involved in the study were assessed with an initial questionnaire about their dietary habits, then followed-up for an average of 8 years.
It marks the first time that researchers have established a relationship between high meat consumption and the risk of developing risk of non-cancerous diseases that weren’t previously considered, as existing evidence has already consistently shown excess meat consumption increases the likelihood of cancerous diseases as well as heart disease.
“We have long known that unprocessed red and processed meat consumption is likely to be carcinogenic and this research is the first to assess the risk of 25 non-cancerous health conditions in relation to meat intake in one study,” explained nutritional epidemiologist and lead author Dr. Keren Papier.
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