Effect of red meat consumption on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The role of red meat in cardiovascular risk remains controversial. The aim of this systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was to investigate the effects of red meat consumption on cardiovascular risk factors concerning different comparison foods. METHODS A systematic search of RCTs was conducted from the inception to April 2024. Studies compared diets containing red meat to those replacing red meat with various foods. Comparison diets were classified into high-quality plant protein sources, animal protein, mixed animal and plant protein and carbohydrates. The effects of the dietary interventions on cardiovascular parameters were evaluated using a random-effects NMA, with an analysis of interactions between the intervention and control groups. The outcomes were the mean changes in blood lipids, blood pressure, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the red meat group compared to the comparator group. RESULTS Thirty-six RCTs were included in the analysis. Consuming plant proteins resulted in a greater reduction in total cholesterol (TC) levels (mean difference (MD) = -0.14; 95 % credible interval (CrI): -0.28 to -0.001, p < 0.05) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels (MD = -0.19; 95 % CrI: -0.36 to -0.03, p < 0.05) compared to red meat interventions. In contrast, interventions combining animal and plant proteins increased TG levels more than red meat interventions (MD = 0.21; 95 % CrI: 0.06 to 0.34, p < 0.05). The certainty of the evidence for all outcomes ranged from very low to low. CONCLUSION The findings of this NMA indicate that the effect of red meat on cardiovascular risk factors depends on the comparison food. Replacing red meat with plant protein sources was associated with favorable changes in TC levels and LDL-C. REGISTRY AND REGISTRY NUMBER FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OR META-ANALYSES: CRD42024537865 https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024537865.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Clinical Nutrition

• Publication date

  2025-09-01

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.clnu.2025.09.001PMID 40997609
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The LDL cumulative exposure hypothesis: evidence and practical applications

  2024cited by this paper
• The relationship between processed meat, red meat, and risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes: A Mendelian randomization study.

  2024cited by this paper
• Dietary fiber intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

  2023cited by this paper
• Vegetarian or vegan diets and blood lipids: a meta-analysis of randomized trials

  2023cited by this paper
• Polyphenol intake and mortality: A nationwide cohort study in the adult population of Spain.

  2023cited by this paper
• Effects of adding lean red meat to a U.S.-Style Healthy Vegetarian Dietary Pattern on gut microbiota and cardiovascular risk factors in young adults: a crossover randomized-controlled trial.

  2023cited by this paper
• Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2023 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association

  2023cited by this paper
• Red meat consumption and risk factors for type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

  2022cited by this paper
• Health effects associated with consumption of unprocessed red meat: a Burden of Proof study

  2022cited by this paper
• Refined Grain Intake and Cardiovascular Disease: Meta-analyses of Prospective Cohort Studies.

  2022cited by this paper
• High HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) Cholesterol Increases Cardiovascular Risk in Hypertensive Patients

  2022cited by this paper
• Association of Dietary Fiber Intake with All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: A 10-Year Prospective Cohort Study

  2022cited by this paper
• Benefits and Risks Associated with Meat Consumption during Key Life Processes and in Relation to the Risk of Chronic Diseases

  2022cited by this paper
• Association Between High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels and Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in High-risk Populations.

  2022cited by this paper
• Associations of unprocessed and processed meat intake with mortality and cardiovascular disease in 21 countries [Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study]: a prospective cohort study.

  2021cited by this paper
• Effect of varying quantities of lean beef as part of a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern on lipids and lipoproteins: a randomized crossover controlled feeding trial

  2021cited by this paper
• Associations Between Macronutrients From Different Dietary Sources and Serum Lipids in 24 639 UK Biobank Study Participants

  2021cited by this paper
• Carbohydrates and Hypertension: The Quality Counts.

  2021cited by this paper
• Saturated fats and cardiovascular health: Current evidence and controversies.

  2021cited by this paper
• ROB-MEN: a tool to assess risk of bias due to missing evidence in network meta-analysis

  2021cited by this paper
• Effect of Different Dietary Approaches in Comparison with High/Low-Carbohydrate Diets on Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  2020cited by this paper
• Associations of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality.

  2020cited by this paper
• Prospective Association between Whole Grain Consumption and Hypertension: The Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study

  2020cited by this paper
• CINeMA: An approach for assessing confidence in the results of a network meta-analysis

  2020cited by this paper
• CINeMA: Software for semiautomated assessment of the confidence in the results of network meta‐analysis

  2020cited by this paper
• Substituting Lean Beef for Carbohydrate in a Healthy Dietary Pattern Does Not Adversely Affect the Cardiometabolic Risk Factor Profile in Men and Women at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

  2020cited by this paper
• Nutrition Study Design Issues—Important Issues for Interpretation

  2020cited by this paper
• Effect of lean red meat combined with a multicomponent exercise program on muscle and cognitive function in older adults: a 6-month randomized controlled trial.

  2020cited by this paper
• Red meat, processed meat, and other dietary protein sources and risk of overall and cause-specific mortality in The Netherlands Cohort Study

  2019cited by this paper
• Impact on cardiometabolic risk of a weight loss intervention with higher protein from lean red meat: Combined results of 2 randomized controlled trials in obese middle-aged and older adults.

  2019cited by this paper
• BUGSnet: an R package to facilitate the conduct and reporting of Bayesian network Meta-analyses

  2019cited by this paper
• Unprocessed Red Meat and Processed Meat Consumption: Dietary Guideline Recommendations From the Nutritional Recommendations (NutriRECS) Consortium

  2019cited by this paper
• Moderate Consumption of Red Meat, Compared to Soy or Non-Soy Legume, Has No Adverse Effect on Cardio-Metabolic Factors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

  2019cited by this paper
• Effects of Mediterranean diet supplemented with lean pork on blood pressure and markers of cardiovascular risk: findings from the MedPork trial

  2019cited by this paper
• Effects of red meat, white meat, and nonmeat protein sources on atherogenic lipoprotein measures in the context of low compared with high saturated fat intake: a randomized controlled trial.

  2019cited by this paper
• Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Red Meat Consumption in Comparison With Various Comparison Diets on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

  2019cited by this paper
• Garlic Supplementation Reduces Circulating C-reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Factor, and Interleukin-6 in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

  2019cited by this paper
• Substitution of red meat with soybean but not non- soy legumes improves inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes; a randomized clinical trial

  2018cited by this paper
• Prospective Association between Total and Specific Dietary Polyphenol Intakes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in the Nutrinet-Santé French Cohort

  2018cited by this paper
• A Mediterranean-style eating pattern with lean, unprocessed red meat has cardiometabolic benefits for adults who are overweight or obese in a randomized, crossover, controlled feeding trial

  2018cited by this paper
• Western Dietary Pattern Is Associated With Severe Coronary Artery Disease

  2018cited by this paper
• Equivalent reductions in body weight during the Beef WISE Study: beef's role in weight improvement, satisfaction and energy

  2017cited by this paper
• Network meta-analysis: a technique to gather evidence from direct and indirect comparisons

  2017cited by this paper
• Total red meat intake of ≥0.5 servings/d does not negatively influence cardiovascular disease risk factors: a systemically searched meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

  2017cited by this paper
• Will it be cheese, bologna, or peanut butter?

  2017cited by this paper
• Optimizing Non-Pharmacologic Management of Hypertriglyceridemia.

  2017cited by this paper
• Low-density lipoproteins cause atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. 1. Evidence from genetic, epidemiologic, and clinical studies. A consensus statement from the European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel

  2017cited by this paper
• A Whole-Grain Diet Reduces Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

  2016cited by this paper
• Effects on cardiovascular risk factors of weight losses limited to 5–10 %

  2016cited by this paper
• Plant protein and animal proteins: do they differentially affect cardiovascular disease risk?

  2015cited by this paper
• Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat.

  2015cited by this paper
• Type and amount of dietary protein in the treatment of metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

  2015cited by this paper
• Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet retains effectiveness to reduce blood pressure when lean pork is substituted for chicken and fish as the predominant source of protein.

  2015cited by this paper
• Substitution of red meat with legumes in the therapeutic lifestyle change diet based on dietary advice improves cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight type 2 diabetes patients: a cross-over randomized clinical trial

  2014cited by this paper
• Protein-enriched diet, with the use of lean red meat, combined with progressive resistance training enhances lean tissue mass and muscle strength and reduces circulating IL-6 concentrations in elderly women: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

  2014cited by this paper
• Evaluating the Quality of Evidence from a Network Meta-Analysis

  2014cited by this paper
• Estimating the sample mean and standard deviation from the sample size, median, range and/or interquartile range

  2014cited by this paper
• The Influence of Whole Grain Products and Red Meat on Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Normal Weight Adults: A Randomized Crossover Intervention Trial

  2014cited by this paper
• Evidence Synthesis for Decision Making 4

  2013cited by this paper
• Graphical Tools for Network Meta-Analysis in STATA

  2013cited by this paper
• Positive effect of mushrooms substituted for meat on body weight, body composition, and health parameters. A 1-year randomized clinical trial.

  2013cited by this paper
• Effects of Eating Fresh Lean Pork on Cardiometabolic Health Parameters

  2012cited by this paper
• Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet study: effects on lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins123

  2011cited by this paper
• GRADE guidelines: 8. Rating the quality of evidence--indirectness.

  2011cited by this paper
• Effect of lean red meat from lamb v. lean white meat from chicken on the serum lipid profile: a randomised, cross-over study in women

  2011cited by this paper
• An oily fish diet increases insulin sensitivity compared to a red meat diet in young iron-deficient women

  2009cited by this paper
• Low-sodium Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension-type diet including lean red meat lowers blood pressure in postmenopausal women.

  2009cited by this paper
• Refined grain consumption and the metabolic syndrome in urban Asian Indians (Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study 57).

  2009cited by this paper
• Increased lean red meat intake does not elevate markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in humans.

  2007cited by this paper
• Protein Intake during Energy Restriction: Effects on Body Composition and Markers of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Health in Postmenopausal Women

  2007cited by this paper
• Partial substitution of carbohydrate intake with protein intake from lean red meat lowers blood pressure in hypertensive persons.

  2006cited by this paper
• Withdrawal of red meat from the usual diet reduces albuminuria and improves serum fatty acid profile in type 2 diabetes patients with macroalbuminuria.

  2006cited by this paper
• Simultaneous comparison of multiple treatments: combining direct and indirect evidence

  2005cited by this paper
• A low-protein diet exacerbates postprandial chylomicron concentration in moderately dyslipidaemic subjects in comparison to a lean red meat protein-enriched diet

  2005cited by this paper
• Beef and soy-based food supplements differentially affect serum lipoprotein-lipid profiles because of changes in carbohydrate intake and novel nutrient intake ratios in older men who resistive-train.

  2005cited by this paper
• Plasma lipids and lipoproteins in hypercholesterolemic men fed a lipid-lowering diet containing lean beef, lean fish, or poultry.

  2003cited by this paper
• Weight loss and total lipid profile changes in overweight women consuming beef or chicken as the primary protein source.

  2003cited by this paper
• Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses

  2003cited by this paper
• Effect of Meat Replacement by Tofu on CHD Risk Factors Including Copper Induced LDL Oxidation

  2000cited by this paper
• PEDro. A database of randomized trials and systematic reviews in physiotherapy.

  2000cited by this paper
• Effects of a prudent diet containing either lean beef and mutton or fish and skinless chicken on the plasma lipoproteins and fatty acid composition of triacylglycerol and cholesteryl ester of hypercholesterolemic subjects.

  1999cited by this paper
• Comparison of the effects of lean red meat vs lean white meat on serum lipid levels among free-living persons with hypercholesterolemia: a long-term, randomized clinical trial.

  1999cited by this paper
• Plasma lipoprotein response to substituting fish for red meat in the diet.

  1991cited by this paper
• A comparison of the effect of diets containing beef protein and plant proteins on blood lipids of healthy young men.

  1984cited by this paper
• Dietary "meats" and serum lipids.

  1982cited by this paper
• Serum lipids in humans fed diets containing beef or fish and poultry.

  1981cited by this paper
• Human plasma lipid responses to red meat, poultry, fish, and eggs.

  1980cited by this paper

• Comment on "Effect of red meat consumption on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials".

  2025cites this paper