Inflammation is a known risk factor for various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).
The impact of diet on inflammation has become a topic of interest, with recommendations to limit red meat consumption partly based on older studies suggesting that red meat may negatively affect inflammation.
However, recent studies have contradicted this notion.
A Closer Look at the Diet-Inflammation Connection
Dr. Alexis Wood and her team aimed to provide a more thorough examination of the relationship between diet, particularly red meat consumption, and inflammation.
They used cross-sectional data from around 4,000 older adults participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and published their findings in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Cross-sectional data offers valuable insights into how diet affects health by observing individuals in their natural settings without influencing their lifestyles.
Metabolites as a Key Factor
The research involved assessing participants’ self-reported dietary intake, several biomarkers, and an array of dietary intake metabolites in the blood.
Metabolites in plasma can help measure the effects of dietary intake as food is processed, digested, and absorbed.
The study revealed that after adjusting for body mass index (BMI), the consumption of unprocessed and processed red meat (beef, pork, or lamb) did not show a direct association with any markers of inflammation.
This suggests that body weight, rather than red meat, may be the primary driver of increased systemic inflammation.
Notably, there was no significant link between red meat consumption and C-reactive protein (CRP), a major inflammatory risk marker for chronic diseases.
Dr. Wood emphasized the importance of measuring plasma markers like metabolites to assess the associations between diet and disease risk.
She noted that their analysis did not support previous observational research that linked red meat intake and inflammation.
The Need for Further Research
As observational studies cannot establish cause-and-effect relationships, Dr. Wood stressed the necessity for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to provide additional evidence on whether red meat consumption affects inflammation.
Some RCTs have already shown that lean unprocessed beef can be part of a heart-healthy dietary pattern.
Dr. Wood concluded that more research is required before making recommendations to limit red meat consumption as a means to reduce inflammation.
While red meat is a popular and culturally significant dietary component, any advice to reduce its consumption should be based on strong scientific evidence, which is still evolving in this area.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about a breakfast linked to better blood vessel health, and drinking too much coffee could harm people with high blood pressure.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about unhealthy habits that may increase high blood pressure risk, and results showing plant-based protein foods may help reverse diabetes.
The research findings can be found in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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