Eating More Red Meat Linked to 10% Higher Risk of Death, Harvard Study Finds

People who increased their red meat intake by half a serving a day or more over eight years had a 10% higher risk of dying in the following eight years, a large Harvard study has found. For processed red meat the figure was 13%.

Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, led by Yan Zheng and Frank Hu, followed 53,553 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 27,916 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, recording 14,019 deaths. The study is published in The BMJ. The link held regardless of age, exercise, overall diet quality, smoking or alcohol.

Cutting red meat while eating more nuts, whole grains, vegetables or other protein foods was linked to a lower risk of death. Professor Hu said in the Harvard release:

This long-term study provides further evidence that reducing red meat intake while eating other protein foods or more whole grains and vegetables may reduce risk of premature death.

Swapping a burger for a bean chilli or a lentil bolognese is an easy place to start.

It follows Oxford research estimating red and processed meat health costs at $285 billion, and the largest study yet linking meat to nine major diseases.

Less red meat, more plants, more years!