Abstract

PICHEL, Fernando. Lipid Profile of Red Meat and Cardiovascular Disease. Nutrícias [online]. 2013, n.16, pp.20-23. ISSN 2182-7230.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death for non-communicable diseases, killing more than tumors and chronic respiratory diseases. Having such impact, and being responsible for 37% of Portuguese deaths annually, there are a set of measures designed to intervene on the main risk factors: high blood pressure, obesity, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Some of these measures focus on changing lifestyle, particularly in changing food habits and consumption of meat, especially red meat. This food is considered a source of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, components involved in atherogenesis, a disease which contribute to cardiovascular diseases. However, the saturation profile of red meat’s fatty acids changes according to a set of extrinsic and intrinsic factors related to the animal. The analysis of recent literature reveals two opposite conclusions: a meta-analysis concludes that there is no association between red meat consumption and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, while two prospective cohorts conclude that there is a positive association. As for the relationship between fatty acids and cardiovascular diseases risk, there are studies concluding that there is no association between the consumption of source of saturated fatty acids and cardiovascular diseases. Also monounsaturated fatty acids are not associated with cardiovascular disease being polyunsaturated fatty acids the ones associated with the reduction of such risk.

Keywords : Lipid profile; Red meat; Cardiovascular disease; Saturated fatty acids; Fat.

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