Misleading Headlines at the Alzheimer’s Association

I like to look on the Alzheimer’s Association website from time to time. There are usually some news articles and press releases that keep me updated with the latest.

Usually I am disappointed with what I see.

Take this article as a case in point:

“Processed Red Meat Raises the Risk of Dementia; Swapping it for Nuts and Beans May Lower Risk”

First of all, I am finding the complete opposite. Providing meat and other animal products (eggs, fish, etc.) is improving the cognitive health of my residents.

Secondly, what do you think of when you see the words ‘red meat’? Personally I think of beef - ground beef, steaks, roasts etc.

Meat from a cow.

When you read into the article, the opening paragraph lists ‘processed red meat’ as ‘at least a 1/4 serving of bacon, bologna or other processed red meat a day (about two servings a week)’.

Last time I checked bacon comes from a pig. Bologna can come from beef. However, it can also come from pork, turkey and chicken.

Later in the article, the authors also listed hot dogs, sausage or kielbasa, and salami as foods that could also raise your risk of dementia.

Not really red meat.

This may sound picky. I don’t think so. Good red meat such as ground beef or steak is incredibly nutritious for you. Not so much with Oscar Meyer hot dogs. There’s a large difference in nutritional value between regular hot dogs and high-quality beef.

If you read the headline, however, you think that most meat is bad. Especially when the authors recommend foods such as beans, peas, nuts or tofu (tofu???) instead.

The study took tracked 130,000 people over 43 years to assess the correlation between red meat and dementia. The researchers assessed the participants diet every 2 to 4 years based on their answers to food frequency questionnaires. Here’s an example of the questions they asked:

‘How often they ate a serving of processed red meat, which includes bacon (two slices), hot dog (one), sausage or kielbasa (2 ounces or two small links), salami, bologna or other processed meat sandwiches; and nuts and legumes, including peanut butter (1 tablespoon), peanuts, walnuts, or other nuts (1 ounce), soy milk (8-ounce glass), string beans, beans or lentils, peas or lima beans (1/2 cup), or tofu or soy protein.’

Can you recall what you’ve been eating over the past 2-4 years? Even if someone asked you every 2-4 weeks I believe most people would have trouble accurately assessing what they ate.

Were there any questions about how often they ate fast food? Or candy? Pizza? It sure doesn’t seem so.

Way down in the article the authors stated:

‘The researchers also studied unprocessed red meat and did not uncover a significant association between dementia and eating unprocessed red meat, such as hamburger, steak or pork chops’.

How many people will read way down in the article? Also this last quote was based on the food questionnaire. So it also seems like we can’t count on it’s accuracy.

The final paragraph of the article talks about a US study to ‘Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk’. I hope they conduct that study better than the study I just described.