A Prospective Study of Dietary Meat Intake and Risk of Incident Chronic Kidney Disease

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of different meat intake and substitution of them with risk of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD).

At the baseline, habitual dietary intakes of 4881 participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study who were free of CKD were assessed by a valid and reliable food-frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, smoking, total energy intake, triglycerides, body mass index, physical activity, hypertension, and diabetes, was used to assess the relationship between major protein sources of food (total red meat, unprocessed red meat, and processed red meat) and incident CKD. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the CKD were estimated for substituting one serving of total red meat with one serving of low-fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, and legumes.

The mean ± standard deviation age of participants was 40.1 ± 12.8 years. After adjustment for confounders, compared with the lowest quartile of total red meat intake, OR of incident CKD in the highest quartile was 1.73 (95% CI: 1.33 to 2.24; P for trend <0.001) in the final model. OR for participants in the highest compared with that in the lowest quartile of processed red meat was 1.99 (95% CI: 2.54 to 2.56; P for trend <0.001). In the substitution analyses, replacing 1 serving of total red meat and processed meat with 1 serving of low-fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, and legumes was associated with a lower risk of incident CKD.

Higher consumption of total red meat and processed meat was associated with increased risk of incident CKD. Furthermore, substitution of total red and processed meat in the diet with other sources of dietary protein was associated with lower CKD risk.