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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 43 studies: red meat linked to higher heart disease risk

Shi and colleagues · European heart journal · 2023

Original title: Red meat consumption, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to harm

Heart disease risk was higher with unprocessed red meat (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.16 per 100 g/day) and processed red meat (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.35 per 50 g/day). Diabetes risk was also higher.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
43 studies, 4,462,810 people · Adults in 43 long-term studies of heart disease (plus 27 studies of diabetes)
What was tested
More unprocessed red meat (per 100 g/day) and processed red meat (per 50 g/day)
What it measured
The question itself: cancer, heart disease and death
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
European heart journal, 2023
Source
PubMed record 37264855. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 43 studies with 4,462,810 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: cancer, heart disease and death.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •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

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ 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

  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
  • Quoted in “What we found”: In forty-three pooled studies, every 100 g/day of unprocessed red meat went with more heart and blood vessel disease (HR 1.11); every 50 g/day of processed meat, HR 1.26.
  • Part of the finding “Heart disease and death: small but repeated links”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Pooled forty-three observational studies (4 462 810 people) on heart and blood vessel disease. Unprocessed red meat (HR 1.11 per 100 g/day) and processed red meat (HR 1.26 per 50 g/day) both went with higher risk.
  • Marked as a key paper in the research timeline: Largest heart disease pool: 4 462 810 people.
  • Open item for a person: Meta-analyses Farvid 2021, Ungvari 2025, Huang 2021 and Shi 2023 likely share cohorts, so their results are not independent.

Other reviews on this question

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 two reads agreed on every checked field. 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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