Thread by @TamarHaspel

The new issue of Annals of Internal Medicine has 4 (count em 4!) new analyses that conclude that eating meat is OK. Here's a thread with the conclusion of each, plus the upshot. Link's not up yet (embargo just lifted), but Annals is here: annals.org/aim

#1 "Patterns of red & processed meat consumption and risk for cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes."

#2: "Reduction of red & processed meat intake and cancer mortality and incidence."

#3: "Red and processed meat consumption and risk for all-cause mortality and cardiometabolic outcomes."

#4: "Effect of lower vs. higher red meat intake on cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes."

In a separate paper, all of these are synthesized into dietary recommendations that say, "hey, just keep doing what you're doing." Lead author (and co-author of other papers) Bradley C. Johnston aka @NutriRational.

You can take issue with how they did these. @GardnerPhD does, and pointed out to me that they ignored meat reduction studies like PREDIMED. Why? Good question. Their recommendation flies in the face of almost every other group's interpretation of the data.

We all know the problems w/observational nutrition data:
- People can't remember what they eat
- Also they lie like rugs
- Confound it! Crap diets are linked to other stuff
- You can slice, dice, and weigh data to show anything

Meat is particularly fraught because high consumption is a marker for not giving a shit about nutrition and health. Eg: meat eaters are more likely to die in ACCIDENTS. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

All this is put into perspective in another paper in the issue, this by @aaronecarroll and @DrTiff_, who say the big takeaway here is that the quality of evidence is low low low. So low that maybe we shouldn't do this anymore.

So here's my modest proposal. Stop observational nutrition research altogether. Just STOP. All we get are see-saw headlines about this or that food, and -- here's the important part -- that makes things WORSE. Consumers are confused, and believe healthful eating is hopeless.

The real conclusion of these mega-studies isn't that meat is fine. It's that evidence sucks. So I'll keep flogging the one supportable dietary guideline: eat a wide variety of whole or whole-ish foods, in amounts consistent with a healthy weight.
OK done.
washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food…