That burger is fine for your heart, researchers say. (But skip the bacon)

Maybe red meat has been getting a bad rap. But bacon, deli meats? They're still fair game.

In an analysis of earlier studies on the connections between meat consumption and coronary heart disease and diabetes, researchers at Harvard University have found that processed meats appear to be the villain. Red meat itself gets a pass.

Specifically, the researchers found: "Processed-meat intake was associated with 42% higher risk" of  coronary heart disease "and 19% higher risk of diabetes mellitus."

Here's the abstract of that meat study; the Harvard news release; and guidance from the American Heart Assn. on the consumption of meat, poultry and fish.

The findings were published online Monday in the journal Circulation.  The salt and preservatives in processed meat are under suspicion, not the fat.

The American Meat Institute Foundation scoffs at the findings.

-- Tami Dennis

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Lisa Porter]

Why would anyone listen to an organization called the American Meat Institute Foundation (not only is it an institute but also a foundation!)? Every time a study comes out that is negative about our over processed junk foods, there is an organization vociferously criticizing the study. In these situations, we need to take such criticisms with a very large grain of salt.

[Uncle B]

Eating red meat displaces good foods in the diet like Tilappia from aquaponics, and fresh greens from the same! Red meat is an environmental disaster! Red meat is indirectly oil dependent, and with rising prices for oil, definitely not the way to go! Fats in red meats clog arteries - no way to argue your way out of it! They contain cholesterol - and not the good stuff either! In the convulsive paradigm shift occurring as the American dollar falls, as the oil dwindles, less corn based meats will be eaten, more fish farming products marketed at better prices and Americans will, as always seek out the bargains and switch! Amazing, the products that we eat that indirectly depend on the price of oil!