The War on Red Beef Vs People

The war on meat: Is information technology harmful, healthy or both?

While meat gets a bad rap in the headlines, experts say the truth about its health impact is more complicated.

Lauren Pelley Staff Reporter

Mon., Aug. 15, 2016 five min. read

Article was updated Aug. 17, 2016

Sugar, table salt, saturated fat. They've all had their turn in the spotlight, with studies and media reports vilifying each one for chipping away at your lifespan or increasing your risk of one disease or another.

But the latest headlines betoken the finger at a different wellness enemy: Meat.

"Eating more animal protein increases risk of death, plant poly peptide reduces it," warned a CBC story in August, post-obit the highly publicized release of a large U.Southward. study. "Meat in Mod Nutrition, Just as Bad every bit Carbohydrate, Correlates with Worldwide Obesity," reads the headline of a research paper published earlier this summer. And last twelvemonth, the Earth Health Organization's cancer agency classified processed meat — everything from ballpark hotdogs to greasy bacon — as a cancer-causing carcinogen, while declaring cerise meat — the mammalian muscle known as beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, and so on — every bit a likely carcinogen to humans.

"People want to blame something for their due south----y health, and their s----y nutrition. Now it'due south meat. Before information technology was saccharide. Before information technology was carbohydrates. That's just human nature," says Abby Langer, a Toronto-based registered dietitian.

There is, it seems, a state of war on meat — merely the reality is more than nuanced than the headlines.

Much ado about meat

Criticism of a meat-based nutrition often focuses on ecology and ethical arguments, with food researchers and friendly neighbourhood vegans alike highlighting everything from unnecessary cruelty to animals to the dire environmental impact of meat production.

A whopping 18 per cent of greenhouse gases are attributed to livestock production, notes bestselling food writer Marking Bittman in a memorable 2007 TED Talk. "How much livestock do you demand to produce this? lxx per cent of the agricultural land on World, 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface, is directly or indirectly devoted to raising the animals we'll eat," he says in the talk. "And this amount is predicted to double in the next 40 years or so."

In recent years, notwithstanding, the dialogue has shifted, focusing more than narrowly on the personal wellness impacts of our steak-craving, burger-guzzling Western civilisation.

As Hillary Clinton trotted along the campaign trail earlier this year, her husband was doing the same — lauding not only his wife'due south presidential ambitions, but likewise something else shut to Neb'southward heart: His near meat-free nutrition. Adopting a mostly vegan lifestyle amid his ongoing heart troubles "changed my life," the former president told the media at a campaign pit-stop in Las Vegas in February.

With the exception of organic salmon one time a calendar week — at his doctor's recommendation — Clinton has entirely ditched meat in recent years, touting the potential wellness benefits of his diet changes: Weight loss. Renewed free energy. A longer lifespan.

He'southward a political leader, not a doctor, but Clinton's view does line up with a growing body of evidence highlighting the risks of eating meat. The long-term consumption of ruby meat — and, in item, processed meat — may effect in an increased chance of decease, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and Blazon two diabetes, according to a 2015 review of epidemiological studies written on behalf of Switzerland's Federal Commission for Nutrition, which aligns with those striking WHO recommendations from the same year. In Canada, a nutrition loftier in candy meat is 7th on a ranking of the peak dietary risks for death, while a diet high in red meat is 14th, co-ordinate to a 2015 study from the Canadian Medical Association.

Though the news seems dire for meat-lovers, local nutrient experts paint a more complicated picture of meat'south risks and benefits than headlines or statistics can convey.

The nuanced reality

Meat isn't "deadly," says Dr. Tom Wolever, a professor of nutritional sciences at the Academy of Toronto and medical staff member at St. Michael's Hospital. The bigger problem, he says, is portion sizes.

"Ordinarily, you lot go to restaurants, and it's a huge portion of meat and one slice of carrot and not much else," Wolever says. "The portions need to be readjusted."

Y'all tin can have a healthy nutrition and nonetheless eat meat in moderation, echoes Laura Rosella, a Canada Research Chair in population wellness analytics and an assistant professor at the Academy of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

"I retrieve meat'southward being vilified a little bit, and the messaging isn't every bit nuanced as it should exist," she says, calculation the backlash began about five years agone.

Despite the furor, meat'due south nutritional benefits tin't be ignored. Information technology's a valuable source of protein, vitamins A and B1, B12, niacin, atomic number 26, and zinc, notes Switzerland's 2015 review. It tin also satiate hunger more than so than other foods, Rosella says.

And there's also a striking difference between different types of meat, equally highlighted by diverse studies, and experts say people demand to avoid mentally lumping all meats together. "We know that hotdogs, for example, and cured meats may be associated with a higher risk of disease and mortality," says Langer. "Something like a lean steak is fine. Those are two dissimilar things."

So what's the take-away for modern eaters? Keeping in mind both the long-known health benefits of a primarily plant-based diet and the downsides of eating as well much meat, it seems.

"I would recommend people to have a wide variety," says Dr. David Jenkins, a scientist with the Li Ka Shing Noesis Institute at St. Michael'south Hospital and a professor in the University of Toronto'southward departments of nutritional sciences and medicine. "Enjoy the cuisines of different cultures … try out some of the vegetarian restaurants in Toronto."

People definitely need to consume more plants, Langer says, and should make an effort to experiment with alternative sources of protein, such as tofu and lentils.

"But there's nothing toxic or wrong with including meat in your diet a few times a week," she says.

The meaning behind meats

Crimson meat

Reddish meat is basically whatsoever blazon of mammalian muscle — so beef, lamb, pork, mutton, horse and caprine animal. Nearly health experts preach moderation when it comes to eating things like steak, and cerise meat in general is classified every bit a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer branch. But it'southward also a source of protein, iron, and vitamin B12, which helps keep red blood cells salubrious.

White meat

The lighter-coloured meat of poultry — think chicken and turkey — is typically touted equally a healthier option than crimson or processed meat. The American Middle Clan, for instance, encourages people to eat more than craven than red meat since it has less saturated fat. "Cholesterol and saturated fat tin raise your claret cholesterol and make heart affliction worse," the arrangement notes.

Processed meat

Any meat that'due south been changed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other methods to preserve or season is considered "candy" meat. Nigh of these products include pork or beef, but could also contain other types of meat or meat byproducts. Sure, it's yummy stuff — ranging from hotdogs to salary to beef jerky — merely experts warn against eating it every mean solar day over concerns most an increased risk of cancer.

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