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Population study: followed a group

In 1,152 adults, meat had no clear cholesterol link; men had higher blood pressure

Wagemakers and colleagues · European journal of clinical nutrition · 2009

Original title: Consumption of red or processed meat does not predict risk factors for coronary heart disease; results from a cohort of British adults in 1989 and 1999.

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What the study found

Mixed

Red or processed meat was not linked to blood cholesterol or blood pressure, except higher blood pressure in men for both combined. A 10 g increase in red meat went with a 0.3 cm bigger waist (P=0.04 for men).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Population study: followed a group
Who or what was studied
1,152 people · 517 men and 635 women from a British 1946 birth group
What was tested
Red and processed meat eaten in 1989 and 1999 vs heart risk factors measured in 1999
What it measured
Lab tests or markers
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed; funded by UK Medical Research Council.
Journal
European journal of clinical nutrition, 2009
Source
PubMed record 18000518. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • –Shows a link, not a cause: people chose their own habits, and other differences between them may explain the result.
  • ✓Followed people over time, so habits were recorded before the outcome happened.
  • •1,152 people.
  • –Measured lab tests or markers, which stand in for cancer, heart disease and death. A better marker does not always mean better health.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: cancer and heart disease

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    6

    2 benefit, 4 harm

  4. Population studies

    12

    1 benefit, 2 mixed, 1 no difference, 8 harm

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does red meat raise cancer and heart disease risk?”

Linked to higher risk, especially processed meat.

Confidence: low. Based on 30 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 11 papers on the same step: 1 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 no difference, 8 harm. This one found mixed. It differs from most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 30 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 3 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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