Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Heme iron and nitrate/nitrite from processed meat independently contribute to increased mortality risk, with nitrate accounting for a larger proportion of the risk from processed red meat.
The health risks of processed red meat are largely due to heme iron and added nitrates/nitrites. Choosing unprocessed meats or those without added nitrates may mitigate these specific risks.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Mediation models estimated that the increased mortality associated with processed red meat was influenced by nitrate intake (37.0-72.0%) and to a lesser degree by heme iron (20.9-24.1%).
Why this rating
Mediation analysis on a large cohort.
Source
Mortality from different causes associated with meat, heme iron, nitrates, and nitrites in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study: population based cohort study
Arash Etemadi et al. · BMJ · 2017
cohort · n=536969Cited 292×
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