To answer Terpe's question ( " does this report give any indications of what is meant by "too much" ? " ) :-
The study defined “ standard serving portion sizes “ as 85g ( 3 oz ) for unprocessed red meat. Processed red meat included “ bacon “ ( 2 slices, 13 g ), “ hot dogs “ ( one, 45 g ), and “ sausage, salami, bologna, and other processed red meats ( 1 piece, 28 g ). They estimated ( their word ) that 9.3% in men and 7.6% in women of total deaths during follow up could be prevented if all the participants consumed fewer than 0.5 servings per day of total red meats in these cohorts ( groups ). That would be equivalent to one large steak a week. The average Briton is said to consume 70g ( 2.5 oz ) a day.
Their conclusion : “ We found that greater consumption of unprocessed and processed red meats is associated with higher mortality risk. Compared with red meat, other dietary components, such as fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains, were associated with lower risk. These results indicate that replacement of red meat with alternative healthy dietary components may lower the mortality risk. “
A sense of proportion is needed. It’s been suggested that people who have a diet high in red meat may be more likely to smoke, be overweight, and not exercise. These are called “ confounding variables “ for which this study adjusted. The sensible conclusion is that people should consider cutting down on red and processed meat as part of getting - and keeping - healthier.
