I have only skimmed this paper. I’ll study it later but I already love it for the thoroughness and precision with which the authors approached the question. Their work demonstrates how important it is to be sceptical of one or, in many cases, even dozens of studies in which independent variables are examined against human health outcomes. Thanks also to the authors for paying to make the article open access. Many are unwilling to do so.
Red Meat & All Cause Mortality.pdf (719.7 KB)
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I have now read this report more carefully.
My opinion is that the family of positive and negative associations between red meat and all cause mortality presented here is interesting and slightly surprising but that the implications of this analytic methodology for virtually a great many study outcomes, expressed here and throughout the literature on health and longevity, is groundbreaking.
The basic takeaway is, “We don’t know what we think we know because the data have not been analyzed on all possible ways.”
This study is definitely worth a careful read not to learn more about the impact of red meat but to see how tentative is all of what we believe to be true or likely true.
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Is Red Meat Bad for Your Heart? It May Depend on Who Funded the Study.
A new analysis found that red meat studies with industry links were more likely to report favorable results than those without them.
In a review published last week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists came to a concerning conclusion. Red meat appeared healthier in studies that were funded by the red meat industry.
Of course, this is not surprising to anyone familiar with nutrition research, which often has conflicts of interest because of a lack of federal funding. But it is yet another example of how industry-linked studies might shape the way people understand, and potentially misunderstand, the health consequences of what they eat.
Past research funded by the sugar industry, for instance, has downplayed the relationship between sugar and health conditions like obesity and heart disease. And studies funded by the alcohol industry have suggested that moderate drinking could be part of a healthy diet.
Miguel López Moreno, a researcher at Francisco de Vitoria University in Spain who led the new analysis, said in an email that he wanted to know if similar issues were happening with the research on unprocessed red meat. Processed meats like bacon and sausage have consistently been linked with heart disease risk, he said, but the evidence for unprocessed red meats like steaks and pork chops has been “far more mixed.”
Read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/well/eat/red-meat-heart-health.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ik8.8jUY.-uD8DSp9_M3N&smid=url-share
Source Research Paper:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916525001261
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