Processed red meat increases your dementia risk

If processed red meat—such as bacon and sausages—is a staple of your diet, you’re more likely to suffer from cognitive decline and dementia when you’re older.

The good news is that it’s never too late, and replacing the meats for nuts, fish and poultry can reverse some of the damage, say researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

They tracked the rates of dementia among 133,771 healthy people with an average age of 49.  By the end of the 43-year study, 11,173 of the participants had dementia, and the researchers estimated that, among those who ate processed meats, the risk increased 13 percent for those who consumed the most—around an ounce or more every day—compared to those who ate the least.

Similar increased risks were seen in those who ate unprocessed red meat, such as lamb or beef.  Those who ate the meat every day were 16 percent more likely to suffer cognitive decline than those who ate it less frequently.

Replacing one daily serving of processed meat for nuts and legumes lowered the risk of dementia by 19 percent and reversed brain ageing.  Substituting a serving of meat for fish lowered the dementia risk by 28 percent.

The researchers explain that red meat is high in saturated fats that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease which, in turn, can affect brain health and cognition.

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