Those of us who eat more red meat and processed meat face a greater risk of death by heart disease and cancer, according to a new study.

Said to be the largest study to date, more than half a million American men and women between the ages of 50 and 71 participated for ten years from 1995, with the results published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

During the follow-up period 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.

Red meat was defined as beef, pork, bacon, ham, hamburger, hot dogs, liver, pork sausage, steak, and meats in foods such as pizza, stews, and lasagna.

White meat included turkey, fish, chicken, and chicken mixtures.

Processed meat was white or red meat that was cured, dried, or smoked, such as bacon, chicken sausage, lunch meats, and cold cuts.

Lead study author Rashmi Sinha from the US National Cancer Institute called the increased risk modest, but said the findings support the advice of health groups to limit red and processed meat intake to decrease cancer risk.

However, the author of an accompanying editorial describes the risks found in the study as more than "modest."

Those who ate the most red meat consumed about 130 grams a day - the equivalent of a small steak or a quarter-pound hamburger.

Men who ate the daily equivalent of a quarter-pounder hamburger over 10 years had a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease compared to those who ate the least red meat, around 150 grams per week.

Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20% higher chance of dying of cancer and a 50% higher chance of dying from heart disease than the women who ate less.

Interestingly, for processed meats, the increased risks for large quantities were slightly lower overall than for red meat, while people whose diets contained more white meat like chicken and fish had lower risks of overall and cancer death.

Ms Sinha says that 11% of all deaths in men and 16% of deaths in women could have been prevented if participants cut their red meat consumption to that eaten by the lowest intake group, and heart disease deaths could have been decreased by 11% in men and 21% in women by limiting red meat intake to the amount eaten by the lowest intake group.