A new study published in Neurology has found that consuming large amounts of red meat, especially processed forms, may increase the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Researchers from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard analyzed data from over 133,000 US adults and found that replacing processed red meat with healthier protein sources like nuts, legumes, or fish could lower dementia risk by approximately 20%.
The study, which was conducted between January 2015 and December 2023, included data from two large cohorts: the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). The researchers measured objective cognitive function using standard assessments and found that those consuming more processed red meat had poorer cognitive performance.
The study’s findings suggest that eating one-quarter or more of a serving of processed red meat per day increases the risk of dementia by 13%, with a greater risk associated with consuming unprocessed meats as well. The researchers also found that cognitive aging was accelerated by approximately 1.6 years for every average daily serving of processed red meat.
The authors believe that further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind the association between red meat consumption and dementia risk, particularly those involving the gut microbiome. Red meat’s high saturated fat and salt content may also contribute to impaired brain cells’ health.
According to corresponding author Daniel Wang, MD, ScD, “we hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health.” The study highlights the importance of dietary guidelines that consider cognitive health, in addition to chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-red-meat-consumption-dementia-cognitive.html