Red meat can cause heart problems – Dagsavisen

This is a corrected and updated version of the article.

Cattle, lamb, pork and processed meat can increase the chance of coronary heart disease later in life, according to a study that followed over 1.4 million people for 30 years. It writes CNN.

Coronary heart disease is a term for diseases in which the coronary arteries of the heart are blocked or narrowed. This is the world’s leading cause of death and disability.

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Processed meat the worst

The risk of heart disease increases according to how much meat you have eaten, the research says. For every 50 grams of red meat you eat daily, the chance of the diseases increases by nine percent. The same figure for processed meat is 18 percent.

– This is consistent with previous findings for bowel cancer, where processed meat has been shown to give a higher risk of cancer than red meat, says Anika Knüppel, nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford and co-researcher in the study.

The study also shows that there is no connection between poultry and coronary heart disease. For example, chicken and turkey have less saturated fat than red meat, a factor that contributes to the thickening of the coronary arteries.

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Several factors affect heart health

Helge Andreas Felberg is a clinical nutritionist and subject manager at kostholdsendring.no. He says that it is not wise to have too much LDL cholesterol in the blood over time, ie the “unfortunate” cholesterol, because this is what can be taken up in the blood vessel wall and start atherosclerosis.

– What increases LDL cholesterol in the blood when we talk about specific foods, is first and foremost a high intake of foods with a lot of saturated fat, which some sources of red meat have a lot of. Most things in diet are about consuming amounts over time. Food is not poison, says Felberg.

He points out that it is not necessary to remove all saturated fat from the diet, but that it makes sense to reduce it considerably if high cholesterol has been detected. Furthermore, he points out that Norwegian dietary guidelines provide good general guidance.

– There will be a lot of focus on reducing “the dangerous fat”, but this is only half the dietary advice for heart health. Reduced intake of saturated fat alone will have an effect, but no optimal effect. At the same time as you reduce the intake of saturated fat, you must increase the intake of the good fat, namely unsaturated fat, he says.

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Proper balance

Therefore, dietary advice for reduced cholesterol does not coincide with “low fat”, says Felberg. He points out that it is about fat quality, and the right balance between different types of fat.

– The healthy fat comes from the plant world, such as rapeseed oil, olive oil, nuts, mayonnaise and avocado. The exceptions are coconut oil and palm oil, which contain saturated fat. In addition, we can mention very positive effects of fiber from, for example, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, he continues.

It is not only food and the amount of cholesterol that affect heart health, according to Felberg. He highlights the function of the blood vessel wall, and its uptake of LDL cholesterol.

– Here, the topic of low-grade chronic inflammation is relevant, as this “buzzes” the body’s normal function in many contexts, and can make the blood vessel wall more easily absorb LDL cholesterol and start atherosclerosis. Low-grade inflammation should not be confused with unvarnished literature from the bookstore on “anti-inflammatory foods”. The most potent way to increase low-grade inflammation is obesity and smoking. Factors that have a positive effect are physical activity, enough sleep, coping with stress and a healthy diet, concludes the nutritionist.

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