Study lead Professor David Cameron-Smith, from the University of Auckland-based Liggins Institute, says red meat is an excellent source of protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, such as iron, but has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease and colon cancer.
Almost all of the evidence for those links comes from large epidemiological studies, which involve identifying associations between people’s self-reported diet and their health status years later.
“The trouble is, it’s hard to tell whether these associations are linked to meat, or other diet and lifestyle factors,” says Prof Cameron-Smith.
“Another issue is that many studies do not separate out the effects of fresh and preserved, or processed, red meat.
“The link to colon cancer is clear for processed meat.
‘‘But very few scientific studies — this is the first in New Zealand — have extended this research to actually piece together whether a modest intake of good quality, fresh red meat has any positive or negative impacts on health.”
The researchers recruited participants who are on the heavy side with slightly high cholesterol who consume red meat in their regular diet. Before and after going on the diet, they visit the Institute to give blood, urine and stool samples.
Researchers will analyse these samples to look for changes in health indicators such as blood lipids, including cholesterol, and changes in body fat composition, and check for gut microbiome changes, where they expect to see clear differences between the red meat and vegetarian groups. — NZME
