Red meat is an ally for cardiovascular health and gut microbiota in a balanced diet.

A healthy diet can include red meat, an unsuspected ally for cardiovascular and gut microbiota health. This is the conclusion of an innovative study from Purdue University in the USA, published in “Nutrients“. The research analysed the effects of a balanced diet on the gut microbiota and risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, providing new insights into the role of red meat in health.

Red meat is not bad for you

Given the constant smear campaign against red meat that we are used to today, it may come as a surprise that the diet examined in this study included fresh and processed beef and pork. This overturns many current beliefs and shows that eating red meat as part of a balanced diet does not harm health. In particular, the study analysed the effects of adopting, abandoning and re-adopting a healthy and controlled diet in 17 young adults aged 20-35 years. It showed that changes in diet affect the composition of the gut microbiota and the levels of some cardiovascular biomarkers.

The study on a healthy diet

The participants were followed for a total of 24 weeks, with a protocol that included an initial period of 5 weeks in which the participants followed their usual diet, three cycles of a healthy diet of 3 weeks each, alternating with two periods of unrestricted and uncontrolled diet of 5 weeks each. All food provided to the participants was prepared according to standardised cooking instructions, with menus rotated every 4 days. The healthy diet followed the model based on US guidelines, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including approximately 85 g per day of red meat from beef and pork, both fresh and processed.

According to the study results, the alternation between adopting and abandoning a healthy diet determined a cycle of transformations in the intestinal microbiota, which also affected the concentration of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and total cholesterol. In particular, consuming a balanced diet, including fresh and processed beef and pork, improved the microbiota composition and reduced cardiovascular risk factors. On the contrary, abandoning this diet negated these benefits, with no improvement in cardiovascular health or gut flora. Therefore, the idea that red meat may harm gut or heart health is rejected, emphasising the importance of assessing the diet as a whole rather than focusing on individual foods.

For science, nothing new

These findings are consistent with previous research showing that dietary changes can rapidly alter the gut microbiota composition and improve blood lipid profiles, helping reduce cardiovascular disease risk. The study confirmed the close relationship between changes in the gut microbiota and levels of lipoproteins and lipids in the blood, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, strengthening the view that the microbiota can influence fat metabolism and play a key role in cardiovascular health.

Health professionals and researchers must consider these aspects when developing dietary strategies to improve cardiovascular health through positive changes in the composition of the gut microbiota. The inclusion of red meat may be a critical factor in these strategies.