Eating too much red meat—especially processed red meat like bacon, sausage, and bologna—could raise your risk of memory loss and dementia, according to a large new study published in the journal Neurology®.
Researchers followed more than 133,000 people for up to 43 years to better understand how red meat might affect brain health. The study found that people who ate more processed red meat had a higher chance of developing dementia and other forms of cognitive decline.
Processed red meat includes products such as hot dogs, salami, bacon, and bologna. These meats are high in saturated fat and other additives. Previous research has already shown that eating a lot of red meat increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes—both of which are known to negatively affect brain function.
Dr. Dong Wang from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the study’s lead author, said the good news is that people can lower their risk by replacing red meat with healthier options like fish, nuts, and chicken.
In the first part of the study, researchers analyzed food diaries from 133,771 people with an average age of 49 who did not have dementia at the beginning of the study. Over time, 11,173 participants developed dementia.
They found that people who ate at least 0.25 servings of processed red meat per day had a 13% higher risk of developing dementia than those who ate less than 0.10 servings per day. A serving was defined as about 3 ounces, or roughly the size of a deck of cards.
Interestingly, eating unprocessed red meat like beef, pork, lamb, or hamburgers did not appear to affect dementia risk in the same way.
In a second part of the study, researchers looked at 43,966 older adults with an average age of 78. These participants rated their own memory and thinking skills. Those who ate more processed red meat reported more memory and thinking problems over time.
People who ate at least 0.25 servings per day of processed red meat had a 14% higher chance of noticing mental decline. Surprisingly, eating more unprocessed red meat was also linked to a 16% higher risk of reported mental decline in this group.
In the third part of the study, researchers tested the thinking and memory skills of 17,458 women with an average age of 74. These women took cognitive tests four times during the study. The results showed that eating more processed red meat was linked to faster brain aging.
One extra daily serving of processed red meat was linked to the equivalent of about 1.6 extra years of brain aging in memory and overall thinking skills.
Researchers also looked at what happened when people replaced red meat with other foods. Swapping just one serving of processed red meat per day with one serving of nuts or legumes was linked to a 19% lower risk of dementia. Replacing it with fish lowered the risk by 28%, and replacing it with chicken lowered the risk by 16%.
Dr. Wang said these results could help guide dietary recommendations to support brain health as people age. However, he also noted that the study mostly included white healthcare professionals, so more research is needed to see if the results apply to other groups of people.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about Scientists find a simple solution to fight dementia and findings of Big causes of memory loss, dementia you need to know.
For more about dementia, please read studies about People who take high blood pressure medications have lower dementia risk and findings of Early indicators of dementia: 5 behaviour changes to look for after age 50.
The study is published in Neurology.
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