Pork consumption and its relationship to human nutrition and health: a scoping review

Pork is a frequently consumed red meat that provides substantial amounts of energy, macronutrients, and micronutrients to the diet. Its role in human nutrition and health is controversial and a plethora of data exist in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review of clinical and population-based studies to assess the effects of pork consumption on human nutrition and health. Results are reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews. Data were extracted from 86 studies, including 16 randomized controlled trials, 1 uncontrolled trial, 7 cohort studies, 4 nonrandomized controlled trials, 4 case-cohort and nested case-control studies, 33 case-control studies, and 21 cross-sectional studies. Intervention studies were conducted in healthy individuals and were short to moderate in duration. The effect of pork intake on patients’ nutrient status was the most commonly assessed outcome. The majority of observational studies assessed the effect of pork on cancer incidence, but no studies assessed the effects of pork on inflammation or oxidative stress. No interventional studies explored diabetes mellitus risk, and only one study assessed cancer risk associated with pork consumption. Several micronutrients in pork, including zinc, iron, selenium, choline, thiamin, and vitamins B6 and vitamin B12, are thought to influence cognitive function and may prove to be a unique area of research. To date, there is a dearth of high-quality randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of pork intake on disease risk factors and outcomes. This review helps highlight the many research gaps that future studies should be designed to address.