Food & Recipes

For A Longer Life, Pay Attention To The Source Of Your Protein

The verdict on red meat is in.

Meat-lovers beware. Recent studies have shown that those who get their protein from mostly red meat are at a higher-than-average risk of death than those who receive mostly plant-based protein.

Now, before you go thinking the end is near and wanting to switch out your beloved pizza toppings for spinach and mushrooms, hear me out.

According to Health, an analysis published by JAMA Internal Medicine found that people who prefer red meat to fish and poultry had a higher-than-average risk of death. But, people in the study at the highest risk also had another “unhealthy lifestyle issue,” such as smoking, etc.

Those who consumed a lot of meat, but were otherwise healthy, had lower risk of death than those with the unhealthy habit. So, there’s some good news—though it was still not as low as those who ate mostly plant-based protein.


Nevertheless, “Our findings suggest that people should consider eating more plant proteins than animal proteins,” Mingyang Song, MD, a research fellow in the Massachusetts General Hospital Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Division of Gastroenterology said in a press release. “When they do choose among sources of animal protein, fish and chicken are probably better choices.”

So, bring on the veggies, poultry and fish for the chance at a longer life. You can still have your meat- filled pizza from time to time, but it surely couldn’t hurt to eat a few more greens, anyways, right?

[h/t: Health]