Eating More Red Meat Increases Dementia Risk... Shocking Research Findings

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Research Team
Nuts, Legumes, and Fish Lower Dementia Risk

A study has found that consuming large amounts of red meat such as beef and pork, as well as processed meat, increases the risk of dementia by 13%.

A study has found that consuming a large amount of red or processed meat increases the risk of dementia by 13%. Photo by Pixabay

The research was conducted by Professor Daniel Wang's team at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA, investigating the relationship between diet and dementia risk. The team tracked the diet and health data of 133,771 people (average age 49) for up to 43 years to confirm these findings. Conversely, consuming nuts, legumes, and fish was found to reduce the risk of dementia by 20%.

People who consumed an average of 21g or more of red meat including processed meat daily had a 13% higher risk of developing dementia and a 14% higher risk of cognitive decline compared to those consuming 8.6g or less. Those who consumed 86g or more of unprocessed red meat daily had a 16% higher risk of dementia compared to those consuming less than 43g per day.

Additionally, cognitive aging was found to accelerate by approximately 1.6 years for every 86g increase in daily processed meat consumption.

Regarding this, the research team explained, "Saturated fats and salt contained in red and processed meats not only affect brain cell health but also gut microbiota appear to act as factors linking red meat consumption and dementia risk."

Replacing red and processed meats with nuts, legumes, and fish was shown to reduce dementia risk by 19% and cognitive decline risk by 21%. Cognitive aging was delayed by 1.37 years.

Professor Wang, the study's author, said, "Dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, so cognitive health is often not discussed. This study shows that higher consumption of red meat, especially processed red meat, increases the risk of dementia and cognitive decline." He added, "Reducing red meat intake could be included in dietary guidelines to promote cognitive health."

The study results were recently published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.