Men who eat moderate
amounts of processed red meat may have an increased risk of incidence and death
from heart failure, according to a June 2014 study in Circulation: Heart
Failure, an American Heart
Association journal.
Processed meats are
preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. Examples include
cold cuts (ham, salami), sausage, bacon and hot dogs.
“Processed red meat
commonly contains sodium, nitrates, phosphates and other food additives, and
smoked and grilled meats also contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all of
which may contribute to the increased heart failure risk,” said Alicja Wolk,
D.M.Sc., senior author of the study and professor in the Division of
Nutritional Epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska
Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. “Unprocessed meat is free from food additives
and usually has a lower amount of sodium.”
The Cohort of Swedish
Men study — the first to examine the effects of processed red meat separately
from unprocessed red meat — included 37,035 men 45-79 years old with no history
of heart failure, ischemic heart disease or cancer. Participants completed a
questionnaire on food intake and other lifestyle factors and researchers
followed them from 1998 to the date of heart failure diagnosis, death or the
end of the study in 2010.
After almost 12 years of
follow-up, researchers found:
* Heart failure was
diagnosed in 2,891 men and 266 died from heart failure.
* Men who ate the most
processed red meat (75 grams per day or more) had a 28 percent higher risk of
heart failure compared to men who ate the least (25 grams per day or less)
after adjusting for multiple lifestyle variables.
* Men who ate the most
processed red meat had more than a 2-fold increased risk of death from heart
failure compared to men in the lowest category.
* For each 50 gram (e.g.
1-2 slices of ham) increase in daily consumption of processed meat, the risk of
heart failure incidence increased by 8 percent and the risk of death from heart
failure by 38 percent.
* The risk of heart failure
or death among those who ate unprocessed red meat didn’t increase.
At the beginning of the
study, participants completed a 96-item questionnaire about their diet.
Processed meat questions focused on consumption of sausages, cold cuts
(ham/salami), blood pudding/sausages and liver pate over the last year.
Unprocessed meat questions covered pork and beef/veal, including hamburger or
ground-minced meat.
Results of the study for
total red meat consumption are consistent with findings from the Physicians’
Health Study, in which men who ate the most total red meat had a 24 percent
higher risk of heart failure incidence compared to those who ate the least.
“To reduce your risk of
heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, we suggest avoiding processed
red meat in your diet, and limiting the amount of unprocessed red meat to one
to two servings per week or less,” said Joanna Kaluza, Ph.D., study lead author
and assistant professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Warsaw
University of Life Sciences in Poland. “Instead, eat a diet rich in fruit,
vegetables, whole grain products, nuts and increase your servings of fish.”
Researchers said they
expect to find similar associations in a current study conducted with women.
Almost 6 million
Americans have heart failure and about 50 percent die within five years of
diagnosis. The healthcare costs and loss of productivity due to heart failure
are an estimated $34 billion each year, researchers said.
The American Heart
Association recommends that people eat a dietary pattern that emphasizes
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish, and
nuts while limiting red meat and sugary foods and beverages. For people who eat
meat, choose lean meats and poultry without skin and eat fish at least twice a
week – preferably fish high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, trout, and
herring.
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