New Research Reveals Why Some ‘Unhealthy’ Foods Aren’t As Bad As You Think – But If You’re in This Group of People, Better Avoid Them
Inflammation as a precursor to numerous chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), has piqued the interest of the scientific community, especially regarding the influence of dietary habits.
Common advice often includes curtailing red meat intake, grounded in older research linking it to increased inflammation. However, this association is not corroborated by more recent studies.
Dr. Alexis Wood, a respected associate professor in pediatric nutrition at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, emphasizes the need for comprehensive research.
“The role of diet, including red meat, on inflammation and disease risk has not been adequately studied, which can lead to public health recommendations that are not based on strong evidence,” Dr. Wood remarked.
Her team endeavored to delve deeper using metabolite data from blood samples, offering a direct insight into the relationship between diet and health.
The research, conducted on approximately 4,000 older adults participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), was recently documented in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Utilizing cross-sectional data—observed from individuals in their natural living conditions without any external influences—the study aimed to make the findings more applicable in everyday settings.
Researchers not only relied on participants’ self-reported dietary habits and various biomarkers but also measured a range of dietary intake metabolites found in the blood.
These plasma metabolites are crucial as they reveal the impact of food consumption through its digestion and absorption.
The findings highlighted that, after accounting for body mass index (BMI), there wasn’t a clear connection between consuming unprocessed or processed red meat (beef, pork, or lamb) and any inflammation indicators.
This discovery implies that it might be body weight, rather than red meat consumption, that contributes to heightened systemic inflammation. Notably, there was no observed correlation between red meat consumption and C-reactive protein (CRP), a primary marker for inflammation-related chronic disease risk.
Dr. Wood added, “Our analysis adds to the growing body of evidence that indicates the importance of measuring plasma markers, such as metabolites, to track diet and disease risk associations, versus relying on self-reported dietary intake alone. Our analysis does not support previous observational research associations linking red meat intake and inflammation.”
Given that observational studies cannot definitively establish causality, there’s a need for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to further investigate the relationship between red meat and inflammation. Several RCTs have already shown that lean unprocessed beef can be part of heart-healthy diets.
Dr. Wood concluded, “We have reached a stage where more studies are needed before we can make recommendations to limit red meat consumption for reducing inflammation if we want to base dietary recommendations on the most up-to-date evidence.
“Red meat is popular, accessible and palatable – and its place in our diet has deep cultural roots. Given this, recommendations about reducing consumption should be supported by strong scientific evidence, which doesn’t yet exist.”
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