Heme iron and nitrate additives drove association in population-based study

Intake of both processed and unprocessed red meat was associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality, in part due to heme iron and nitrate or nitrite, reported researchers.

In a large U.S. cohort of more than 500,00 people, red meat intake was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality during the median 15.6 years of follow-up (HR 1.26 for highest versus lowest fifth, 95% CI 1.23-1.29), with a similar impact for unprocessed and processed red meat at the same level of intake, Arash Etemadi, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues reported in The BMJ.

The risk was higher too for death due to all the specific causes looked at -- cancer, diseases of the heart, stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory disease, diabetes mellitus, infections, kidney disease, and chronic liver disease -- except Alzheimer's disease................Read more

Source: MedPage Today