38-Year Study Links Less Red and Processed Meat With Lower Mortality Risk

A 38-year study of nearly 1 million adults found that eating less red and processed meat was linked to a slightly lower risk of death, while white-meat-only diets showed lower risk in some groups.

Medicine

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A large long-term study from the American Cancer Society examined 998,378 adults who were ages 30 to 95 when their diet was assessed in 1982, with mortality tracked through 2020. The researchers compared people who ate red and processed meat frequently with people who ate it less often, as well as smaller groups who ate only white meat or followed a vegetarian diet. The analysis adjusted for factors including age, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, sleep, body weight, education, health history and other demographic factors. The study found that lower red and processed meat intake was associated with modestly lower mortality from all causes, heart disease and cancer, while lower stroke mortality was also observed overall. The white-meat-only group showed lower all-cause mortality in several subgroups, including men, people with healthy weight, adults ages 50 to 64, and people who reached age 80 or older. The differences were generally small, and the study was observational, so the findings show associations rather than proving that meat intake directly caused the differences in mortality. Another limitation is that the diet information came from a brief assessment at baseline, while only a small share of participants were in the white-meat-only or vegetarian categories. The researchers therefore describe the results as evidence that limiting red and processed meat may be linked with modestly lower mortality risk, while noting that more detailed and repeated dietary research is needed.

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