The Great Meat Debate

For decades, the standard approach to a heart healthy diet has included the command to decrease consumption of “red meat” with its heavy accompaniment of saturated fat.1-9 This directive was based on a large number of retrospective population studies and an occasional randomized investigation carried out over many years. The results of these studies suggested that consumption of high levels of red meat and processed meat products was associated with an increased risk for developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as well as certain malignancies such as colon cancer.