Processed meats are tied to higher rates of heart disease and diabetes

Combing through 20 relevant studies, involving 1.2 million adults in 10 countries, researchers discovered that unprocessed red meat isn't so bad for our hearts. It's processed meats that are actually linked to a higher incidence of coronary heart disease and diabetes.

"To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should avoid eating too much processed meats -- for example, hot dogs, bacon, sausage or processed deli meats," lead researcher Renata Micha, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Palm Beach Post. "Based on our findings, eating up to one serving per week would be associated with relatively small risk."

Researchers found that:

• higher consumption of unprocessed red meat was not significantly associated with risk of either coronary heart disease or diabetes.

• higher consumption of processed meat was associated with risk: each daily 50-gram serving was associated with 42 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease and 19 percent higher risk of diabetes.

Unprocessed red meat included beef, hamburgers, lamb or pork.

Processed meat was any meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or with the addition of chemical preservatives, including bacon, salami, sausages, hot dogs, or processed deli or luncheon meats.

The processed meats contained, on average, four times higher sodium and 50 percent higher levels of nitrate/nitrite preservatives than unprocessed red meats. In contrast, saturated fat levels were similar and cholesterol levels were higher in unprocessed red meats versus processed meats. Researchers said this suggests that salt and other preservatives, rather than fats, could account for the higher risk seen with processed meats.

Their work was presented this week at an American Heart Association conference in San Francisco.