Boston (SmartAboutHealth) - Recent studies show that people who eat large quantities of red meat have an increased risk of death over a 10 year period.

On the other side however, people who eat white meat actually reduced their risk of death within the same period.

The US study that based on more than 500,000 people found that the consumers whose diet contained a high proportion of red and processed meat had a higher overall risk of death. Cancer and heart disease were the two primary diseases.

Consumers whose diet contained a high proportion of white meat has a lower risk of overall death, specifically lower risks of fatal cancer or heart disease.

The study shows that 11% of the deaths in men and 16% of the deaths in women could have been prevented if they had decreased their consumption of red meat.

Researchers show that people eating the most meat ate about 160g of red meat per day and people eating the least ate about 25g per day. That’s like comparing a 6oz steak to a few strips of bacon.