Meat consumption and risk of 25 common conditions: outcome-wide analyses in 475,000 men and women in the UK Biobank study

Abstract

Background: There is limited prospective evidence on the association between meat consumption and many common, non-cancerous health outcomes. We examined associations of meat intake with risk of 25 common conditions (other than cancer). Methods: We used data from 474 998 middle-aged men and women recruited into the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010 and followed-up until 2017 (mean follow-up of 8.0 years) with available information on meat intake at baseline (collected via touchscreen questionnaire), and linked hospital admissions and mortality data. For a large sub-sample, dietary intakes were re-measured using an online, 24-hour questionnaire. Results: In multi-variable adjusted (including body mass index (BMI)) Cox regression models corrected for multiple testing, a higher consumption of red and processed meat combined was associated with higher risks of ischaemic heart disease (HR per 70 g/day higher intake 1.14, 95% CI 1.06-1.22), pneumonia (1.28,1.15-1.41), diverticular disease (1.18,1.10-1.26), colon polyps (1.09,1.04-1.13), and diabetes (1.29,1.19-1.40), and a lower risk of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), driven by a higher consumption of red meat (HR per 50g/day higher intake 0.77,0.69-0.86). Higher poultry meat intake was associated with higher risks of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (HR per 30g/day higher intake 1.14, 1.06-1.23), gastritis and duodenitis (1.10,1.04-1.16), diverticular disease (1.09,1.04-1.16), and diabetes (1.13,1.06-1.20), and a lower risk of IDA (0.80,0.73-0.87). Conclusions: Higher red, processed, and poultry meat consumption was associated with higher risks of several common conditions; higher BMI accounted for a substantial proportion of these increased risks. Higher red and poultry meat consumption was associated with lower IDA risk.

Circulating insulin-like growth factor-I and risk of 25 common conditions: outcome-wide analyses in the UK Biobank Study

“…Outcomes of interest were the 25 most common, well-defined primary causes of non-cancer related hospital admission in this cohort based on the primary International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 diagnosis codes recorded during admission. 29 We excluded some common reasons for hospital admission in this cohort (e.g. nausea or heartburn) because they were not well-defined and/or were likely to be associated with a diverse range of underlying conditions.…”

Meat consumption and risk of ischemic heart disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A search of previous systematic reviews yielded two additional full texts. The search was updated on May 20, 2020 yielding one additional study, and on June 4, 2021 yielding 5 additional studies of which one was an updated analysis of a study from the original search including more cases (Al-Shaar et al 2020;Ascherio et al 1994) and one was a full text peer reviewed publication of a preprint included in the first updated search (Table S1, supplementary material) (Papier et al 2020(Papier et al , 2021.…”

Health and sustainability co-benefits of eating behaviors: Towards a science of dietary eco-wellness

“…For example, a British study of some 475,000 people found that eating meat three or more times per week is linked with increased diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. ( Papier et al, 2020 ) A synthesis of two U.S.-based prospective cohort studies with more than 80,000 subjects and 1.2 million years of follow-up found that an increase of only half a serving of red meat each day was associated with a 10% increase in all-cause mortality. ( Zheng et al, 2019 ) One meta-analysis of 12 prospective studies including 177,655 deaths found that each additional 100 g of red meat consumed daily was associated with a 10% increase in all-cause mortality in a “linear dose–response” manner.…”