Eat a lot of red meat? You might want to consider replacing it with more fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains, according to new studies from Harvard University. The studies of 37,000 men and 83,000 women found that eating red meat can increase your risk of early death from heart disease and cancer. A related study showed consuming red meat also can boost the risk of of type 2 diabetes.

In a commentary accompanying the studies in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. Dean Ornish said the health-related costs of our love for red meat can be high. “More than 75 pecent of the $2.6 trillion in annual US health care costs are from chronic diseases. Eating less red meat is likely to reduce morbidity from these illnesses, thereby reducing health care costs,” he writes.

LINKS

March 12, 2012, LATimes.com, “All red meat is bad for you, new study says; A long-term study finds that eating any amount and any type increases the risk of premature death.”

March 13, 2012, LATimes.com Booster Shots blog, “Chew on this! Critics sink their teeth into red meat study” – Red meat supporters fire back at the study.

March 12, 2012, Dr. Dean Ornish, Archives of Internal Medicine, < a href="http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archinternmed.2012.174v1" target="_blank">“Holy Cow! What’s Good For You Is Good For Our Planet; Comment on “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality”

March 12, 2012, Archives of Internal Medicine, “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality” – the new studies on red meat.