Table 1.

Health and environmental harms of red meat shown in experiment and supporting evidence.

Red Meat Harms	Supporting evidence
Health Harms
Type 2 diabetes	Meta-analyses have found that both unprocessed and processed red meat intake are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.(3,72)
Weight gain	A systematic review(45) and a meta-analysis(44) found that red and processed meat intake is associated with weight gain and increased risk of overweight and obesity.
Heart disease	Meta-analyses have found that red meat intake is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors(46) and increased risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure.(73)
Stroke	Meta-analyses have found that red meat intake is associated with increased risk of stroke.(47,73)
Colon cancer	Meta-analyses have found that red and processed meat intake is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer.(4,74,75) Additionally, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans.(5)
Prostate cancer	A meta-analysis found that red meat intake is associated with increased risk of prostate cancer.(5) A pooled analysis of 15 prospective cohorts found that red and processed meat intake is associated with increased risk of advanced prostate cancer.(76)
Stomach cancer	A meta-analysis found that red meat intake is associated with increased risk of gastric (i.e., stomach) cancer.(77)
Early death	A meta-analysis found that red meat intake is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.(78) A pooled analysis of two prospective cohorts found that red meat intake is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.(79)
Environmental Harms
Climate change	Systematic reviews of life cycle analyses indicate that production of red meat is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,(9,14) which are a key driver of climate change.(80)
More greenhouse gases	Systematic reviews of life cycle analyses indicate that production of red meat is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.(9,14) Ruminant (e.g., cow, goat, sheep) production is a major contributor to methane emissions.(80,81)
Water shortages	Production of red meat is a major contributor to water use(82) and water scarcity (i.e., the relative freshwater availability in a given region).(83)
Water pollution	Production of red meat is a major contributor to water pollution, including through leaching of fertilizers and pesticides used to grow animal feed(82) and through increases in eutrophication(9) (the process by which water becomes enriched with minerals and nutrients, stimulating algal blooms and other negative ecological effects).
Air pollution	Systematic reviews of life cycle analyses indicate that production of red meat is a major contributor to acidifying emissions (e.g., SO2, NH3, and NOX).(9)
Plants and animals going extinct	Meat production (particularly red meat) contributes to biodiversity loss through habitat destruction (e.g., when land is converted to use for feed production or animal grazing, or due to nutrient pollution).(1,84,85)
Clearing of forests	Red meat (particularly beef) production is a major contributor to deforestation (e.g., when forests are converted to pasture for cattle).(14,86)
Worse land quality	Red meat production contributes to land degradation via overgrazing, compaction, and erosion.(15,87)