Red meat and processed meat consumption and the risk of dyslipidemia in Korean adults: A prospective cohort study based on the Health Examinees (HEXA) study

There has been conflicting results on the effect of red meat and processed meat intake on the dyslipidemia risk. Moreover, studies in Asian population with lower meat intake than the Western population are lacking. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between red and processed meat consumption and the dyslipidemia risk by sex among Koreans. A total of 20,407 participants from a prospective cohort were divided into quintiles according to their red meat consumption and tertiles according to their processed meat consumption based on the validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate the relative risk and 95% confidence interval of dyslipidemia according to red and processed meat consumption. Higher red meat consumption was associated with a 34% and 10% increased risk of hypercholesterolemia in both men and women, and further, a 58% and 17% increased risk of hyper-low-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia and dyslipidemia, in men, compared to the lowest consumption group. Higher processed meat consumption was associated with a 38% and 9% increased risk of hypercholesterolemia, 29% and 18% increased risk of hypertriglyceridemia, and 32% and 10% increased risk of dyslipidemia in both men and women, respectively, compared to the lowest consumption group. The results of the present study can provide compelling evidence on Asian population that red and processed meat consumption can lead to a higher risk of dyslipidemia. •The association between red and processed meat consumption and dyslipidemia risk was prospectively examined in Koreans.•Red meat consumption increased the risk of hypercholesterolemia, hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, and dyslipidemia.•Processed meat consumption increased the risk of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and dyslipidemia.