Swapping red meat for other proteins ‘reduces heart disease risk’
The findings were consistent with how food affects LDL cholesterol levels, researchers say
One extra daily serving of red meat is linked to a 10% increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), a 30-year study has concluded.
But replacing red meat, even unprocessed red meat, with eggs, dairy or plant-based proteins can cut CHD risk, according to data from the US Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which has tracked 43,000 men since 1986.
Across the one million person-years of follow-up, there were 2600 non-fatal myocardial infarctions and 1860 fatal CHD events, Massachusetts’ Harvard University researchers found.
The risk of cardiac events was increased by 11% per daily serving of unprocessed red meat, including hamburgers, they wrote in the BMJ this week.
