Ok, for all you meat eaters who love your red meat, listen up.
We have known for a while that cancer, heart disease, and diabetes all have been linked to red meat (mostly beef and pork), processed meats (bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausage, and deli meats). But recent studies show that over consumption of red meat is literally killing us.
“Red meat increases risk of death from cancer.” ran the headline in The Globe and Mail March 2009
“Daily red meat raises chances of dying early.” noted in the National Post
“The more red and processed meats one consumes, the greater the risk of dying, mostly of heart disease and cancer.” U.S. National Cancer Institute (Recently released as the largest study ever on meat consumption and health)
People who consume 2,000 calories a day ate 125 grams of red meat a day (1 1/2 quarter pounders a day) HAVE A 30% HIGHER RISK OF DYING than those who eat 20 grams of red meat (1 1/2 quarter pounders a week).
“You don’t have to be a vegetarian to be healthy,” says Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston Massachusetts. “If you go from eating meat twice a day to once a week, you can eliminate most of the risk.”
Here are my thoughts on red meat consumption.
- GO ORGANIC- if you are going to eat red meat, eat organic grass fed meat . Most red meat is full of medications, hormones, and pesticides from the grains the animals are fed.
- THINK MODERATION- If you are a meat eater, try cutting your red meat intake to once a week or less.
- SWITCH TO WHITE-Try Turkey burgers, fish tacos, and chicken fajitas as substitutes for beef. “White meat posed no risk” says Harvards Walter Willett. That is due to less saturated fats and higher omega 3′s found in white meat compared to red.
- SAY NO TO NITRATE- Look for NO NITRATE deli meats (red or white)
