Scientists from the University’s Nutritional Epidemiology Group used data from 500,000 people, discovering that consuming a 25g serving of processed meat a day, the equivalent to one rasher of bacon, is associated with a 44% increased risk of developing the disease.
But their findings also show eating some unprocessed red meat, such as beef, pork or veal, could be protective, as people who consumed 50g a day were 19% less likely to develop dementia.
The researchers were exploring whether there is a link between consumption of meat and development of dementia, a health condition which affects 5%-8% of over 60s worldwide.
Their results, titled Meat consumption and risk of incident dementia: cohort study of 493,888 UK Biobank participants, are published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Lead researcher Huifeng Zhang, a PhD student from Leeds’ School of Food…
