Moderate Intake of Lean Red Meat was Associated with Lower Risk of Elevated Blood Pressure in Chinese Women: Results from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, 1991-2015.

Zhihong Wang,Qiumin Huang,Huijun Wang,Yun Wang,Liusen Wang,Fengying Zhai,Bing Zhang,Jiguo Zhang,Hongru Jiang

doi:10.3390/nu12051369

Abstract

This study aimed to examine longitudinal associations between fatty and lean, fresh red meat intake and blood pressure (BP) in Chinese adults. The data were from nine waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991–2015), a longitudinal, open cohort study. The surveys were conducted in 303 urban and rural communities of 15 provinces in China. Collected by consecutive three-day 24-h dietary recalls combined with household weighing for foods or only condiments, the diet exposure of interest was daily red meat intake and its subtypes (fatty versus lean) defined by 10-g fat content per 100 g. The main outcome was systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and risk of elevated BP defined as having a mean of SBP ≥ 135 mmHg, DBP ≥ 85 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. Three-level mixed-effect regressions showed women had SBP increases of 2.19 mmHg (95% CI: 1.07, 4.46) from a higher intake of total fresh red meat, 2.42 mmHg (95% CI: 1.18, 4.94) from a higher intake of fatty, fresh red meat, as well as 0.48 mmHg (95% CI: 0.26, 0.88) from a higher intake of lean, fresh red meat in the top tertile versus bottom one when adjusted for potential confounders. After adjusting for survey years, women with the highest tertile of lean, fresh red meat intake had a 32% lower risk of elevated BP (OR 0.68, 95%CI:0.48, 0.96) as compared with those with the first tertile (non-consumer). Fatty and lean, fresh red meat intakes were differentially associated with BP among Chinese adults. Further research is required to elicit the potential mechanism on gender-specific differential association of fatty versus lean, fresh red meat with BP.

Highlights

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally and China has experienced rapid increases in CVDs incidence, representing about 41% of all deaths in 2011 [1,2].Previous studies have demonstrated the expanding burden of cardiometabolic risk factors, including elevated blood pressure (BP), in the Chinese population [1,3,4,5]
The present study investigated the association between intake of fatty versus lean, fresh red meat and BP and elevated BP risk in Chinese adults aged 18 to 65 from the China Health and Nutrition
Men tended to have a slightly higher median intake of total fresh red meat than did women (p < 0.001). Both men and women with higher fresh red meat intakes tended to live in highly urbanized communities and have higher socioeconomic statuses, lower physical activity levels, and greater intakes of and total energy and other types of animal foods

Summary

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally and China has experienced rapid increases in CVDs incidence, representing about 41% of all deaths in 2011 [1,2].Previous studies have demonstrated the expanding burden of cardiometabolic risk factors, including elevated blood pressure (BP), in the Chinese population [1,3,4,5]. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally and China has experienced rapid increases in CVDs incidence, representing about 41% of all deaths in 2011 [1,2]. The prevalence of hypertension has been more than doubled over the past two decades [6]. It is of public health importance to identify modifiable behavioral risk factors, such as unhealthy diet, to curb the hypertension epidemic and related disease burden [1]. Red meat intake has been of public health concern given that its nutrient profile rich in dietary cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat, which have been linked to increased risk of hypertension [7,8,9].

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