More Against Red And Processed Meat

By 4028mdk09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25399566

Is enhanced mortality associated more with red meat/processed meat consumption or with saturated fatty acid (SFA) consumption?  Is it the meat or the saturated fats?  A recent study says meat:

Among highly educated persons, aged >45 years, a high consumption of red, total, and red + processed meat was related to increased all-cause mortality, compared with those with low consumption, whereas no significant associations were found for SFA intake. Dietary guidelines should specifically limit meat consumption and not relying only in limiting SFA intake.

And:

…replacing 100 g of vegetables, fruits & nuts or cereals by 100 g of red meat resulted in higher mortality risk.

For older individuals eating more meat, there was some effect of more SFA consumption:

In these participants, SFA intake was non-significantly associated with mortality. However, isocaloric replacement of monounsaturated fat or carbohydrates by SFA resulted in significantly higher mortality risk. 

But overall this particular study provides data pointing the finger at red meat/processed meat.  Given the consistency of this finding with that of previous studies, it looks for now that excessive consumption of red meat/processed meat is a major dietary health risk.  Looking at all studies, SFA risk is more equivocal; this study does not show, overall, a significant risk, but other studies have showed such a risk.

Limiting red meat/processed meat consumption would seem to be a prudent dietary priority.  Limiting SFA may be a good idea as well, depending upon context and whatever other dietary recommendations a person has from their physician, etc., but the meat situation would seem more important at this point.  Who knows what further studies will say about SFA.