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(Circulation. 2001;103:784.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Dairy Products and Red Meat

Midwesterners Always Knew They Were Good for Something

Margo A. Denke, MD

From the Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Human Nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.

Correspondence to Margo A. Denke, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Human Nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-9052.

Key Words: Editorials • epidemiology • stroke

In this issue of Circulation, Iso et al¹ report an intellectually stimulating observation from the Nurses’ Health Study Cohort linking diet with disease. The intake of saturated fat and animal protein, much maligned in this cholesterol-conscious world, were negatively associated with the risk of stroke due to intraparenchymal hemorrhage. A sigh of relief can be heard throughout the cattle-producing Midwestern states. Maybe there is something good in eating red meat after all.

Several aspects of this study deserve the thoughtful kind of postprandial reflection typically following a Thanksgiving feast, because those traditional Thanksgiving meats—turkey, pork, and lamb—are also sources of animal protein and saturated fat. A meal rich in protein takes longer to digest, and several pieces of cud must be chewed to put this study into perspective.

Four courses are on the menu: study population, dietary assessment, events, and significance. The study population, the Nurses’ Health Study Cohort, along with the companion Health Professional Cohort, offer Harvard epidemiologists uniquely large, prospective databases to link dietary intake with disease. The Nurses’ cohort is a relatively healthy, educated, predominantly white population. Follow-up is exceptional due to the compulsive nature of nurses who are both willing and able to complete and return extensive data forms. While acknowledging the phenomenal strength of this powerful and complete database, it is also important to acknowledge that the cohort represents a highly selective slice of the American public at large.

The second course is dietary assessment. The dietary assessment tool, a 61-item food frequency questionnaire, . . . [Full Text of this Article]