White meat, such as chicken, may raise blood cholesterol levels as much as red meat does. This finding surprised researchers, who admitted they didn’t expect that eating white meat would lead to higher blood cholesterol levels.

In the study, researchers looked at 113 healthy people. The participants ate three different diets. These were a red meat diet which is primarily beef, a white meat diet which is mostly chicken and turkey, and a vegetarian protein diet. Each diet period was four weeks. Between the diet periods, participants had a break, during which they ate their regular foods. In addition, participants had blood tests at the start and finish of each new diet.

The results showed that white and red meat diets had the same effects on blood cholesterol levels. Further, both diets increased blood cholesterol levels compared with the diet built on vegetarian protein sources.

The team acknowledged that it is possible that white meat is better for our health than red meat despite their findings. This is because other effects of red meat consumption could contribute to heart disease independent of cholesterol. Their main recommendations are that people eat less of both kinds of meat and more vegetarian protein.

Q1: What do we learn from the news report about the study?
Q2: What did the researchers acknowledge?