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# Meat Bad for You and Environment - New Study
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/meat_and_environment_0913120550/
- Published: 2012-09-13T18:49:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T13:42:39.000Z
- Description: Using British survey data on 1,724 UK adults, researchers estimated that men and women eating the least red and processed meat had 9.7% and 6.4% lower heart disease risk, 12.0% and 7.5% lower diabetes risk, and 12.2% and 7.7% lower colorectal cancer risk than the heaviest meat eaters.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

People who consumed the least amount of red and processed meat products had reduced risk for heart disease, diabetes, and colorectal cancer, compared with those who consumed the most, according to a new study in the *British Medical Journal Open*. Men and women who consumed the least amount of red and processed meat products had a 9.7 and 6.4 percent reduced risk for heart disease, 12.0 and 7.5 percent reduced risk for diabetes, and a 12.2 and 7.7 percent reduced risk for colorectal cancer, respectively. Researchers used British National Diet and Nutrition Survey data to estimate dietary intake of 1,724 adults in the United Kingdom.

Authors also noted that each participant who consumed the least amount of red and processed meat in this study used 0.45 tons less of carbon dioxide emission equivalents per year, compared with those who consumed the most. Red and processed meat products are a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Aston LM, Smith JN, Powles JW. Impact of a reduced red and processed meat dietary pattern on disease risks and greenhouse gas emissions in the UK: a modelling study. *BMJ Open.* 2012;2:pii:3001072.

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