The beef industry responded March 12 to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggesting red meat consumption is related to increased risk of several chronic diseases. NCBA Executive Director of Human Nutrition Research Shalene McNeill, Ph.D., R.D., said scientific evidence continues to support the role of lean beef in a healthy, balanced diet and "there is nothing in this study that changes that fact."
"Overall, lifestyle patterns including a healthy diet and physical activity, not consumption of any individual food, have been shown to affect mortality," said McNeill.
She also noted this was an observational study, which cannot be used to determine cause and effect. McNeill told reporters from several top tier media outlets that scientists agree responsible dietary advice must be drawn from the entire body of evidence, including rigorous, gold standard, randomized control trials that are available.
"In the case of beef, there are several randomized control trials which have convincingly shown that lean beef, when included as part of a healthy, balanced diet, improves heart health by lowering cholesterol," she said.
The most recent example referred to by McNeill is the Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet study showing that consuming lean beef every day, as part of a heart-healthy diet, can reduce LDL cholesterol by 10 percent. Both the BOLD research and the industry's response to the anti-red meat study were funded by the beef checkoff.
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