Heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases are silent killers. Sometimes, people suffering from it don't even know they have one. Given this reason, the rate of the people who died because of it has dramatically increased over time.
Because of the increasing rate of the number of people dying because of these illnesses, experts worked hand in hand to inform more people about everything they have to know about it. Different researches were funded and studies conducted, all focused on making more hearts healthier.
But among all the niches they've focused on regarding heart health, there is but one that showed inconsistency in the results-the link of consuming red meat in the increased risks for heart disease. As posted in the Medical News Today, the recent study, which was conducted by the researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, and Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, has finally set the boundary for the discrepancy.
The researchers were able to dig deep into the study by conducting the first meta-analysis to see how the heart is affected by consuming different foods, and that includes red meat. The study has been participated by over a total of 1,803 individuals.
Throughout the study, the researchers monitored the participants' blood pressure, and their cholesterol, lipoproteins, and triglycerides levels. Their diet includes different foods such as fish, chicken, legumes, carbohydrates, nuts, soy, and most specifically red meat.
The results of the study reveal how people who ate red meat and those who ate more of the other foods didn't show a lot of differences when it comes to their total cholesterol, blood pressure, and lipoproteins rate. The huge difference lies in their triglyceride concentrations and bad cholesterol levels. People who consumed red meat have higher triglyceride concentrations, while those who didn't, have lower levels of bad cholesterol.
"Previous findings from randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of red meat on cardiovascular disease risks factors have been inconsistent," says Marta Guasch-Ferre, the lead author of the study and research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But she added that with their research, her team was able to discover how other high-quality protein sources produces far better results than that of red meat. This could result "to more favorable changes in cardiovascular risk factors," the expert added.
With what they've discovered, the experts are now confident to say that if you want to have a healthier heart, it is better to consume more healthy plant protein sources instead of red meat. Also, the Mediterranean-style diet is perfect for you as it has a lot of health benefits and also has high-quality protein in it, as posted by Cardiosmart.
