Sex Differences in the Association Between Meat Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk: A Narrative Review of Cohort Studies

The objective of this review was to explore whether the association between meat consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk differs by sex in prospective cohort studies. Several cohort studies have investigated the relationship between red meat (RM) and processed meat (PM) consumption and cardiovascular health, but sex-specific outcomes are often not clearly reported or discussed. We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar for prospective cohort studies published between January 1, 2000 and August 2, 2025, reporting sex-specific associations between RM and PM consumption and cardiovascular disease risk. Fourteen cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 evaluated RM, including unprocessed RM (URM): 2 of 12 studies (17%) reported increased CVD risk in both sexes, 3 of 12 (25%) in men only, 2 of 12 (17%) in women only, 4 of 12 (33%) found no increased risk or reported inverse associations, and 1 of 12 (8%) reported an inverse association only. Processed meat (PM) showed more consistent harm: 6 of 9 studies (67%) in men and 6 of 9 studies (67%) in women reported higher risk, with 4 of 9 (44%) showing increases in both sexes. Poultry was largely neutral: 1 of 5 cohorts (20%) reported a modest increase in men, while all other sex-specific analyses were null. Consistently, PM consumption has been associated with an increased risk of CVD in both sexes, although studies differ on whether men or women are more affected. The URM results are heterogeneous: some cohorts show associations only in men, others only in women, and many report no significant effect. The findings for increased risk of CVD being associated with poultry consumption appear to be largely neutral. Future prospective studies should systematically provide results stratified by sex in order to enable more personalized dietary recommendations.