Health Effects of Red Meat Consumption

Red meat consumption has been extensively studied for its impact on non-communicable diseases and overall mortality. Epidemiological evidence links higher intakes of unprocessed red and processed meats to elevated risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, with dose-response relationships observed in diverse populations. Mechanistic investigations implicate saturated fats, haem iron, nitrites and protein oxidation products in atherogenesis, insulin resistance and colorectal carcinogenesis. At the same time, red meat provides high-quality protein, bioavailable iron and B-group vitamins, which may protect against iron deficiency anaemia and support muscle maintenance. The balance between these benefits and risks underpins public health guidelines that advocate limiting processed meats and moderating unprocessed red meat, while emphasising dietary patterns rich in plant foods. Global consumption trends vary, with declines in some high-income regions but rising red meat intakes in emerging economies, highlighting the need for context-specific dietary recommendations and further research on culturally appropriate interventions.

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Health Effects of Red Meat Consumption publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in health effects of red meat consumption across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Unprocessed red meat: Muscle tissue from mammals that has not undergone preservation methods such as curing, smoking or curing agent addition.

Processed meat: Meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking or other processes to enhance flavour or preservation.

Hazard ratio: A measure of relative risk over time, indicating how often a particular event happens in one group compared to another.

Microsimulation model: A computational approach that simulates individual life courses to estimate the impact of behavioural changes on population health outcomes.

Cardiometabolic health: The combined state of cardiovascular and metabolic systems, encompassing risk factors for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and related conditions.

References

1. Meat consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: an individual-participant federated meta-analysis of 1·97 million adults with 100 000 incident cases from 31 cohorts in 20 countries. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (2024).
2. Estimated effects of reductions in processed meat consumption and unprocessed red meat consumption on occurrences of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and mortality in the USA: a microsimulation study. The Lancet Planetary Health (2024).
3. Substitution of animal-based with plant-based foods on cardiometabolic health and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. BMC Medicine (2023).