Eating Red Meat Daily Raises Cancer, Heart Risks: Study

Americans reportedly aren't eating much less meat than they did 20 years ago, but the USDA expects that to change this year.

A hamburger a day might keep the doctor well-paid.

A new study by top scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health found that eating red meat on a daily basis boosts the risk of heart disease and cancer, NBC News reported.

The research, which studied 84,000 women and 38,000 men over the course of 28 years, found that those who ate daily servings of red meat were 13 percent more likely to die during the study period and were 14 percent more likely to get heart disease or cancer.

The numbers were even higher — at 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively — for those who ate daily servings of processed meats like hot dogs and bacon.

The National Institutes of Health has said, moreover, that Americans' meat-eating habits probably contribute to 1.5 million excess deaths every decade.

The American Meat Institute has estimated that Americans aren't really eating any less meat than they did 20 years ago — but according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's projections, that is expected to change this year.

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