Salad Days

Red meat consumption has more than doubled in the United States in the last 50 years. A few years ago, The China Study clearly demonstrated the price that consumption of red meat exacts on our health. Now, a new study of 500,000 Americans has provided even more evidence that our affinity for red meat compromises our health and limits our longevity.

Results of the decade-long study were published in the March 23 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine. During the study, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died, and the researchers kept track of the timing and reasons for each death. Red meat consumption ranged from a low of less than an ounce a day, on average, to a high of four ounces a day, and processed meat consumption ranged from at most once a week to an average of one and a half ounces a day.

Once researchers controlled for other lifestyle choices, they found that, other things being equal, the men and women who consumed the most red and processed meat were likely to die sooner, especially from one of our two leading killers, heart disease and cancer, than people who consumed much smaller amounts of these foods. The increase in mortality risk tied to the higher levels of meat consumption ranged from about 20 percent to nearly 40 percent.

Just think – the simple decision to eat a crisp, juicy salad instead of a hamburger could increase your longevity! Sweet!