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Red meat consumption and metabolic syndrome in the Costa Rica Heart Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Several epidemiologic investigations have found associations between the consumption of red meat and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Very few studies have looked at populations undergoing the nutrition transition with smaller levels of red meat consumption than those in Westernized countries. In this population-based cross-sectional study, we examined the association between red meat consumption and MetS in Costa Rican adults, a population with comparably lower consumption of red meat.

Methods

Prevalence ratios (PRs) of MetS across quintiles of total, unprocessed, and processed red meat consumption were estimated with log-binomial regression models among 2058 adults from the Costa Rican Heart Study. Least-squares mean values of individual components of MetS across quintiles of red meat consumption were estimated with linear regression models.

Results

We observed a significant positive association between total red meat consumption and MetS (PR for highest compared to lowest quintile: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.42; P for trend = 0.0113) but not for unprocessed or processed red meat consumption when analyzed separately after mutual adjustments. We additionally observed a significant positive association between total, unprocessed, and processed red meat consumption and abdominal obesity.

Conclusion

In this Hispanic population undergoing the nutrition transition, total red meat intake may have an impact on MetS. Based on the relatively low consumption of red meat in Costa Rica compared to other Westernized countries, we hypothesize that a “threshold effect” may exist for unprocessed and processed red meat.

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Acknowledgements

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows—DL: conducted data analyses and wrote the manuscript; DW: supervised data analyses and edited the manuscript; HC: designed the research project, contributed to interpretation of the data and edited the manuscript; AB: designed the research project, supervised data analyses and data interpretation, edited the manuscript, and has primary responsibility for final content. None of the authors reported a conflict of interest.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [HL49086, HL60692], USA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    D. Luan, D. Wang & A. Baylin

  2. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    H. Campos

  3. Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Nutrición Traslacional y Salud, Universidad Hispanoamericana, San Jose, Costa Rica

    H. Campos

  4. Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

    A. Baylin

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  1. D. Luan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Baylin.

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Cite this article

Luan, D., Wang, D., Campos, H. et al. Red meat consumption and metabolic syndrome in the Costa Rica Heart Study. Eur J Nutr 59, 185–193 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-01898-6

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