Are you salivating as the aroma of a delicious roast dinner wafts out of the oven at the moment? Do you feel a little guilty as you walk in?
Never mind those of you who are trying Veganuary this month, we’ve all been told that eating meat is bad. Not just for the planet, but for our health as well. Every bite of that brisket increases your risk for things like cancer and heart disease. A second aid will send you to the grave early.
But will it? A growing body of research suggests that meat is a complex animal. There are acres of difference between a high welfare grass-fed sirloin steak and what a highly processed hot dog does to your body. The NHS advises that people who eat 90g of processed or red meat (equivalent to two slices of bacon) a day should reduce their intake to 70g.
What is clear is that meat, when carefully prepared and selectively eaten, may even promote health. A recent report by the University of Edinburgh found that without improved awareness of alternative nutrient sources, the goal of reducing meat and dairy consumption by 20 per cent by 2035 could actually increase health risks, including selenium, This suggests that deficiencies in important minerals such as iron and iron can be inadvertently exacerbated. zinc.
But ethics and the environment aside, what do we actually know about the effects of eating meat on our health?
Why you shouldn’t give up meat
Dr Wenpeng Yu, a biomedical researcher at Australia’s University of Adelaide, says veganism and vegetarianism have become shorthand for healthier lifestyles. But after he and his team looked at the overall health impact of meat consumption in 175 countries, taking into account factors such as affluence, obesity and overall calorie consumption, last year the International General Medicine The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest the health effects of meat consumption. Don’t send people to their graves early. In fact, it extends lifespan.
Dr. Yu wasn’t too surprised. Humans are hardwired to eat animal protein, he suggests. “Until about 12,000 years ago, there weren’t many other nutrients that we could digest.”
In fact, Professor James Goodwin, scientific director of the Brain Health Network and author of Supercharge Your Brain, says meat may become an increasingly useful and convenient source of nutrition as we age. Suggests. “From middle age onwards, a process called sarcopenia, or muscle loss, progresses by 1 to 2 percent per year.” If you want to prevent this loss, he suggests that 30 percent of your diet should be protein.
Of course, all this protein can come from plants. It’s much more complicated. Nutritional therapist Lucy Miller says animal protein is “complete,” meaning it contains all the amino acids our bodies need.
The odd BLT is OK, but avoid processed meat if possible
Dr Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, says there is strong evidence that processed meats such as ham, bacon, corned beef and some sausages increase the risk of bowel cancer. “Nitrates and nitrites, which are added to prolong the freshness of processed meat, form chemicals called N-nitroso chemicals (or NOCs) during digestion, which can damage cells in the intestines. “There is,” she explains.
Consultant cardiologist Dr Neil Srinivasan says processed meat is also high in sodium, which can raise blood pressure. If he eats 2 servings per week, his risk of heart and circulatory diseases may increase by 7%.
The other bad news is that processed meat is also linked to type 2 diabetes, but a 2021 observational study found that eating 25 grams of processed meat per day was associated with a 44 percent increased risk of dementia. Shown.