Study Finds Red Meat and Cheese Unlikely to Shorten Lifespan

The massive global study looked at 245,000 people in 80 countries and questions conventional wisdom.

Doctors have long warned of the dangers of red meat and dairy products as key players in the development of cardiovascular disease and other heart and blood problems. But a new study assessing diets from every corner of the globe may cast doubt that long-held connection. 

The research, published yesterday in the European Heart Journal, outlines the recent findings. Using the baseline of the scientist-developed Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) diet, researchers conducted five independent studies on a total of 245,000 people from 80 countries. The conclusion: a diet high in fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, and whole-fat dairy is associated with lower cardiovascular disease and death in all world regions, especially in countries with lower income where consumption of these foods is low. It also found that those who consumed higher amounts of red meat fared better on health measurements than those who consumed little. 

The study's lead author Dr. Andrew Mente, a professor at McMaster University in Canada, broke down the "profound implications" that the new discoveries will have on global diets. 

“It indicates that the biggest gains in avoiding premature cardiovascular disease and deaths globally is expected to occur by increasing the intake of healthy foods to a moderate degree,” he told The Telegraph. "On this basis, current advice to restrict dairy, especially whole-fat dairy, to very low amounts in populations globally is not necessary or appropriate."

Mente contends that society's issues with cardiovascular disease and early mortality may not be due to an overindulgence of meat, dairy, or saturated fats, but actually malnutrition caused by people not eating enough key food groups. Dairy foods, especially whole-fat dairy, may even be protective against hypertension and metabolic syndrome—common catalysts for cardiovascular disease. The ideal diet outlined in the study is similar to the famed Mediterranean diet, albeit with differences in fat and dairy sources.

Related: Eat cheese to improve cardiovascular health

The worst diets, the researchers found, were those with the smallest amount of saturated fat intake. This flies in the face of many modern diets' philosophy of avoiding saturated fats, as the study found that those with the lowest levels in their daily food intake were the least healthy. 

"[This] strongly suggests that current targeted dietary guidance limiting the consumption of saturated fat and dairy in many populations of the world may not be warranted," Dr. Mente said. "Our findings show that a similar dietary pattern, but which also includes dairy foods—consumed mostly as whole-fat dairy—may have the most favorable associations with health outcomes in a global population." 

Co-author Salim Yusuf, also a McMaster University professor, shared more details on where in the world they made their most troubling discoveries. 

"The associations were strongest in areas with the poorest quality diet, including South Asia, China, and Africa, where calorie intake was low and dominated by refined carbohydrates," Yusuf said. "This suggests that a large proportion of deaths and cardiovascular disease in adults around the world may be due to undernutrition—that is, low intakes of energy and protective foods—rather than over-nutrition. This challenges current beliefs."

The new research is certainly welcome news for meat and cheese lovers everywhere. And while Mente touts it as "by far the most diverse study of nutrition and health outcomes in the world and the only one with sufficient representation from high-, middle- and low-income countries," organizations like the American Heart Association uphold the correlation between higher meat consumption and cardiovascular problems. 

So maybe go ahead and order that steak this weekend, but just make sure to balance it out with a diversity of other foods as well as cardio and avoiding other risks like smoking.