Key points
- Processed red meats associated with heart disease, cancer, and diabetes
- Higher levels of sodium, saturated fat, nitrates, and nitrites are risky
- Replacing processed red meat with plant-based protein can lower the risk
- An extra daily serving of processed meat is associated with 1.6-year brain aging
ISLAMABAD: Regular eating of processed red meats like bacon, hot dogs, sausages, salami, and bologna could increase one’s likelihood of developing dementia and cognitive decline as one ages, a large new study suggests.
According to The Washington Post, health authorities have long urged people to minimise their intake of processed red meat as it is closely associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.
However, this recent study which was published on Wednesday in the journal Neurology, is one of the first researches to suggest a link between cured meats and higher rates of dementia and worse cognition.
The researchers believe that increased levels of sodium, saturated fat, and chemical additives like nitrates and nitrites in processed red meat could help explain their results.
Moreover, the same study also found that replacing one daily serving of processed red meat with plant proteins such as nuts and legumes was associated with a 19 per cent lower risk of dementia and 1.37 fewer years of cognitive aging.
Plant-based protein
Besides this, replacing processed red meat with chicken and fish can also lower the risk of dementia and reduce cognitive aging.
Those who ate a quarter of a serving or more of processed red meats — such as bacon, bologna, and hot dogs — had a 13% higher chance of having dementia in comparison to those who had less than one-tenth of a serving per day.
A serving of red meat is usually around 3 ounces, which would be either two slices of bacon, 1.5 slices of bologna, or one hot dog.
Researchers also found that an extra daily serving of processed red meat on average was connected with a 1.6-year acceleration in brain aging.
Observational methods
The study methods are observational which means that researchers cannot say for certain that processed red meats are causing dementia, only that there is a link between the two.
However, the investigation into the connection will continue, said one of the study’s authors, Dr Daniel Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“Large, long-term cohort studies are essential for investigating conditions like dementia, which can develop over decades,” Wang said in a news release. “We are continuing to piece together this story to understand the mechanisms causing dementia and cognitive decline.”
Cognitive health
The connection between red meat and cognitive health has not been studied thoroughly, but researchers have found associations with many other health outcomes, including cardiometabolic diseases, cancers, and premature death, said Dr. Mingyang Song, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School. He was not part of the new research.
“In particular, processed red meat shows the strongest association due to its high content in salt, heme iron, and harmful additives used for processing,” Song said in an email.
“Also, the inflammatory response and metabolic disturbances (eg, insulin resistance) associated with high red meat consumption may also play a role,” he added in an email.
This new study is essential for emphasizing how the food people eat affects the way their brain ages, Wang said in the news release.
“Dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing risks of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while cognitive health is less frequently discussed, despite being linked to these diseases,” he said. “We hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health.”