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Red Meat and Our Health: Making Sense of the Messy Literature
Seeking to answer if eating red meat causes or increases the risks of metabolic diseases and cancers.
Is red meat good or bad for health? Ask different experts, and you might get different answers. One reason for this is that nutrition research literature is messy, and questionable funding sources are a big culprit.
A 2016 research review identified 26 papers showing that soft drinks are not associated with diabetes or obesity. But all these 26 papers had ties to the food industry. In contrast, 34 papers found that soft drink promotes diabetes or obesity; only one of these papers is industry-funded.
Another study — published last month — analyzed studies in the top 10 nutrition-related journals and found, “Of articles with food industry involvement, 55.6% reported findings favorable to relevant food industry interests, compared to 9.7% of articles without food industry involvement.”
Such biased funding sources also apply to other food group research, including red meat, dairy, fats, plant products (e.g., cocoa, oil, avocado, oats, potatoes, etc.), and dietary supplements (vitamins, protein shake/bars, probiotics, etc.)
