Key Findings
Total meat (unprocessed and processed) and processed meat intakes were not significantly associated with an elevated incidence of all cardiovascular disease, as well as stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart failure, among African American adults participating in the Jackson Heart Study.
Although unprocessed red meat (beef and pork) was not associated with all cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and heart failure, higher intakes were observed to increase the risk for stroke.
About the Co-Author
Sherman Bigornia, Assistant Professor, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems
Contact information: Sherman.Bigornia@unh.edu, 603-862-2413
This research first published in Public Health Nutrition.
Researchers: S. Bigornia, S. Noel, C. Porter, X. Zhang, S. Talegawker, T. Carithers, A. Correa, and K. Tucker
The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is considered the largest single-site, community-based epidemiologic investigation of environmental and genetic factors associated with cardiovascular disease among African Americans ever undertaken. From that study has come a host of information related to diet and lifestyle of African American adults living in the Jackson, Mississippi, metro area, including information on the consumption of processed and unprocessed red meat, with unprocessed red meat including beef and pork and processed red meat including sausage, luncheon meats, and cured meat products.
For this research, assistant professor Sherman Bigornia and his co-authors examined risk factors for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure over a nearly 10-year period among a sample of more than 3,200 participants in the JHS who were not living with cardiovascular disease. Except for a positive correlation between unprocessed meat consumption and the incidence of stroke, the investigators observed that total meat (unprocessed and processed meat) and processed meat were not significantly associated with cardiovascular disease or the examined CVD subtypes. The researchers emphasized that more research is needed among similar cohorts, with a longer follow-up and greater meat consumption.
More than 5,300 African Americans living in and around Jackson, Mississippi, were surveyed as a part of the JHS. The current investigation conducted by Sherman Bigornia and his colleagues was funded by the Beef Checkoff program.
Co-authors include S. Bigornia, S. Noel, C. Porter, X. Zhang, S. Talegawker, T. Carithers, A. Correa, and K. Tucker.
