Meat health warning
… and it comes from a study of half-a-million people
We know that red and processed meat increase the risk of bowel cancer but new research, from the University of Oxford shows that it also increases the risk of nine other serious illnesses. Scientists looked at the health records of half-a-million UK adults and found that higher consumption of red and processed meat increased the risk of heart disease, pneumonia, diverticular disease, colon polyps and diabetes. Higher consumption of poultry increased the risk of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, gastritis and duodenitis, diverticular disease, gallbladder disease and diabetes. It’s quite a list!
Papier K, Fensom GK, Knuppel A et al. 2021. Meat consumption and risk of 25 common conditions: outcome-wide analyses in 475,000 men and women in the UK Biobank study. BMC Medicine. 19 (1) 53.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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