Processed Red Meat Linked to a 25% Increased Risk of Heart Failure in Men

Men who frequently eat fair amounts of processed red meat—sausage, pepperoni, ham or salami cold cuts, bacon, hot dogs, and any cured, salted, smoked, or preserved items found on a charcuterie board—may present an increased risk of heart failure (HF), according to a recent study.

Researchers followed 37,035 men (age 45-79) in the Cohort of Swedish Men (COSM) study to separately observe the effects of processed and unprocessed red meat on heart failure. All participants did not have a history of ischemic heart disease, cancer, or heart failure at baseline.
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After a 12-year follow-up period, 2891 men were diagnosed with HF, of which 266 died.

Men who ate ≥75 gm of processed red meat per day had a 28% increased risk of HF compared to those who ate ≤25 gm of red meat per day. The high processed red meat consumption group reported a 2-fold increased risk of death from HF compared to the lowest consumption group.

The risk of HF failure increased by 8% and the risk of death from HF increased by 38% for every 50 gm increase in daily red meat consumption.

Eating unprocessed red meat did not increase the risk of HF or death.

“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, DMSc, lead 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,” she said.

Wolk and colleagues recommend a diet that avoids processed red meat, limits the amount of unprocessed red meat (1 to 2 servings per week), and contains fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, beans, and poultry in order to reduce the risk of HF and heart disease.

The complete study is published in the June issue of Circulation: Heart Failure.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Kaluza J, Akesson A, Wolk A. Processed and unprocessed red meat consumption and risk of heart failure: a prospective study of men. Circulation: Heart Failure. 2014 June 12 [epub ahead of print] doi:10.1161/ CIRCHEARTFAILURE.113.000921.

American Heart Association. Processed red meat linked to higher risk of heart failure, death in men [press release]. June 12, 2014. http://newsroom.heart.org/news/processed-red-meat-linked-to-higher-risk-of-heart-failure-death-in-men. Accessed June 13, 2014.