Column #80

The recommendation to “avoid red meat” is nearly as ubiquitous for improving one’s diet as is “eat whole grains.”

What are the issues behind the anti-red meat movement that even the USDA’s Food Pyramid supports? It combines meat with beans in a sliver that’s only sightly larger than oil. The grain sliver is nearly as wide as vegetables, meat, and beans combined. Combined, the slivers for grains, fruits, oil, and milk are twice as wide as the combined slivers for vegetables, meat, and beans.

Part of the anti-meat rhetoric is based on beliefs that man is a vegan and eating animals is cruel because they’re killed. These beliefs ignore basic biological facts and meat processing practices.

Sustainable life started three billion years ago with a simple green plant that got energy from the sun as it took in carbon dioxide and exhaled oxygen. Then 542 million years ago, after oxygen grew more abundant in the oceans, animals developed that ate the plants and other animals in the plankton soup. Then 450 million years ago plants evolved the ability to survive on land. Oxygen levels increased dramatically and twenty million years later animals, who inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, moved on land and continued to eat plants and animals. This relationship between plants and animals still exists.

In terms of humane kill, man has virtually perfected it to a fine art compared to all former practices.

The anti-red meat arguments and the actual facts are:

Fresh Red Meat Causes Cancer
With a digestive system well equipped for the task, mankind has eaten meat throughout evolution. Some populations such as Inuit eat a steady diet of meat and are remarkably healthy. Their meats have the green plant at the bottom of the food chain while in America grain is at the bottom of the food chain. Burned fresh meat is carcinogenic.

The balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) in green leaves is lower than 1:1 which is proven to be good for health. The high 15:1 EFA balance in grain is linked to aggressive cancer growth, autoimmune diseases, and many chronic diseases. Animals get their EFA profiles from the foods they eat. That’s why the 15:1 EFA profile of grain-fed meats links to chronic diseases whereas the 1:1 EFA balances in grass-fed and Omega-3 meats do not.

Processed Meat Causes Cancer
Processed meats with nitrates are problematical if cooked with high heat or burnt. When nitrites are in the presence of amino acids and exposed to high heat, they can turn into nitrosamines which are carcinogenic just like cigarette smoke.

All Meats Have Saturated Fats
All animals regulate their saturated fat levels. Eating saturated fats differs from eating essential fats that the body cannot regulate. Measuring heart health by adding together HDL and LDL is not a good marker while a 1:1 EFA ratio is a reliable marker for better heart health. I eat a lot of grass-fed and Omega-3 meats and my EFA ratio is low, yet my cholesterol is high because of a high HDL component.

Meats Contain Hormones
All living things have hormones including vegetables, beans, nuts, grain, and animals. Hormones are not a health issue in meats even with implanted feedlot cattle. But they are with some plant based foods!

Meat Makes You Fat
Meats are zero glycemic with no carbohydrates, just the opposite of grain. Sugars and carbohydrates provide quick energy which the body stores if not burned off quickly. When fat is consumed, its energy is released slowly resulting in less energy storage. Low-carb, high-meat diets are famous for weight loss. Animals grow fast, fat, and mature earlier when fed grain.

Meat Is Contaminated
Food safety issues are usually bacterial contaminations from various sources that often occur after consumers take possession of the food. Half of recalls involve produce, organic or not. Next is dairy, followed by chicken, etc.

Meat Is Bad for the Environment
The environmental issue baffles most urban consumers because they don’t realize the quantity of irrigation, equipment, fuel, fertilizers, labor, and ground disturbance it takes to grow vegetables and grains. Animals have a symbiotic relationship with green leaves. Plants provide a foundation of energy, nutrients, and oxygen and animals give back carbon dioxide and organic matter (natural fertilizers). Grasslands and animals grazing them require less irrigation, often relying only on rainfall, than crops. Meat is mankind’s most environmentally friendly food source.

Bottom line, grass-fed and omega-3 meats provide all nutrients in a proper balance for humans. Since meats are easy to digest, I believe they are better than vegetables. They are certainly better than grains, nuts, beans, fruit, and oils.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids by Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos

The Earth’s First Breathable Atmosphere

Plants Move onto Land 450 Million Years Ago

Animals Move onto Land 430 Million Years Ago

Most Common Foods for Foodborne Illness: CDC Report

The Insane War on Grass-Fed Beef

Food Safety in Perspective