A new study by United States investigators have found that eating greater quantities of red meat, especially in processed forms, can increase the risk for dementia.

Results published online in the journal ‘Neurology,’ the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, highlight that replacing processed red meat with protein sources like nuts and legumes or fish may decrease dementia risk by approximately 20 per cent.

The study was conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

“Dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing risks of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while cognitive health is less frequently discussed, despite being linked to these diseases,” said corresponding author Daniel Wang, MD, ScD, of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system.

Wang is also an associate member at the Broad Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School.