As you've noticed from my Monday blogs, I am an advocate for meatless meals. No, I am not a vegetarian or vegan in any form but I do avoid red meat. Mostly, this is due to personal preference but as I often point out, there are nutritional benefits of limiting red meat.
Today, I want to look at the other side. Being from Texas, I can understand the love many people have for their beloved steak and potatoes. And on that note, there is nothing inherently wrong with eating red meat- it more has to due with the quality and the amount of red meat you consume. Let's look at the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of this Southern dietary staple.
The Good...
- Red meat is the richest source of heme iron- the form that is most highly absorbed by the body
- Lean beef is a very good source of protein, providing 64.1% of the daily value for protein in just 4 ounces.
- It is a very good source of vitamin B12 & vitamin B6- two vitamins needed by the body to decrease levels of homocysteine
- Homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke
- Beef is also a good source of selenium and zinc.
- Selenium helps reduce the risk of colon cancer and is needed for the proper function of glutathione peroxidase, an important antioxidant that has been shown to reduce the severity of inflammatory conditions like asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (1)
- Zinc, which is helpful for preventing the damage to blood vessel walls that can contribute to atherosclerosis, is also needed for the proper function of the immune system (2)
A particular research study (3) involving 848 patients and 1078 healthy controls matched for sex and age found
- Eating more than 8 servings of red meat a month was associated with 52% increased risk of a cardiac event (cardiac arrest and sudden death)
- Study participants who ate 8 or more portions red meat each month had 4.9 odds of having a heart attack, compared to those with low meat intake
- Purines are broken down to form uric acid. Accumulation of purines in the body can lead to excess accumulation of uric acid, which can lead to the formation of kidney stones and Gout.
Many studies link red meat consumption to increased risk factor for cardiovascular disease
- The major fatty acids found within beef have each been found to be significantly associated with increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) (4)
- High consumers of red meat have been found to possess both higher intakes of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides than vegetarians, vegans, or those who are moderate to low consumers of red meat (5)
...And Things to Consider
Perhaps it's not beef to blame. Recent criticisms of the studies relating red meat consumption to various diseases argue that these studies fail to distinguish between proceed and unprocessed red meats. Proceeded meats, such as ham, bacon, and sausages have added chemicals and preservatives which play into the reasons they may be linked to increased risk of various chronic diseases.
Red meat produced today is leaner and lower in fat than what was produced ten years ago (6), and with options like grass-fed beef and leaner animal varieties, red meat can be part of a healthy source of nutrition in your diet. In fact, one study showed that consumption of up to 180 grams a day of red meat in combination with a low fat diet did not negate the LDL cholesterol lowering effects of diet (7)
Here are some suggestions on how to select the Best Beef
- Buy organic
- This will give you more assurance there are not added pesticide, hormone or antibiotics and that the cattle were raised in a humane manner
- Look for 100% grass-fed
- Grass fed beef is naturally higher in Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Vitamins A & E and Conjegated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
- It also contains less total and saturated fat per serving
- Always buy the leanest cuts of red meat
- The leanest cuts of beef are taken from the round bone
- These include eye of round, top round, & bottom round
- Avoid all processed meats
- A recent report from the American Heart Association states that consumption of
processed meats, but not red meats, is associated with higher incidence of CHD and diabetes (8)
1) Kiatoko M, McDowell LR, Bertrand JE, et al. Evaluating the nutritional status of beef cattle herds from four soil order regions of Florida. I. Macroelements, protein, carotene, vitamins A and E, hemoglobin and hematocrit. J Anim Sci 1982 Jul;55(1):28-37 1982. PMID:16350.
2) Johnson JM, Walker PM. Zinc and iron utilization in young women consuming a beef-based diet. J Am Diet Assoc 1992 Dec;92(12):1474-8 1992. PMID:16320.
3) Kontogianni MD, Panagiotakos DB, Pitsavos C, Chrysohoou C, Stefanadis C. Relationship between meat intake and the development of acute coronary syndromes: the CARDIO2000 case-control study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar 14; [Epub ahead of print] 2007. PMID:17356558.
4) Hu, F. B., Stampfer, M. J., Manson, J. E., Ascherio, A., Colditz, G. A., Speizer, F. E., et al. (1999a). Dietary saturated fats and their food sources in relation to the risk ofcoronary heart disease in women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 70, 1001-1008.
5)Li, D., Sinclair, A. J., Mann, N., Turner, A., Ball, M., Kelly, F., et al. (1999). The association of diet and thrombotic risk factors in healthy male vegetarians and meat-eaters. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53, 612-619.
6) Higgs, J. (2000). The changing nature of red meat: 20 years of improving nutritional quality. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 11, 85–95.
7) Beauchesne-Rondeau, E., Gascon, A., Bergeron, J., & Jacques, H. (2003). Plasma lipids and lipoproteins in hypercholesterolaemic men fed a lipid-lowering diet containing lean beef, lean fish, or poultry. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77(3), 587-593.
8) Micha, R., Wallace, S., Mozaffarian, D. (2010). Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident of coronary heart diease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus. American Heart Association. <http://www.wbur.org/files/2010/05/0518meat2.pdf>
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