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Life Guide U.S. essentials
English

Swap some of your red meat for fish and poultry

  • Moderate value
  • Evidence A
  • Buys life
  • Free
  • Takes minutes
  • Some willpower

In plain words

Eating 2 more servings a week of processed or red meat raises the chance of dying over the same period by about 3%. Replace them with the same number of servings of fish or poultry and no increase shows up. The effect of this item is on the small side in this section; it is something to swap when it's easy, not to fuss over.

Cost

Free, and it takes no time. This is switching which meat you buy, not buying more. The hard part is adjusting your tastes a little.

What you get

Pooling 6 U.S. follow-up studies with nearly 30,000 (3万) people: 2 more servings of processed meat a week raised the risk of death by about 3% (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.02–1.05, the plausible range). 2 more servings a week of unprocessed red meat was also about 3% higher (1.03, 1.01–1.05). The same eating pattern with poultry was 0.99 (0.97–1.02); with fish, 0.99 (0.97–1.01). Neither showed a statistically significant difference

Notes

The difference from 2 servings a week is very small, so don't expect to gain years of life by swapping meat. If you are going to spend money on meat anyway, choose fish and poultry first

Evidence grade
A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.
Sources
  1. Zhong VW, Van Horn L, Greenland P, et al. (2020). Associations of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(4), 503-512. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.6969

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 2, tip 23. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer