Meat is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and it is quite possible that it is partially responsible for the evolution of our brains and therefore our entire species. Humans evolved as omnivores which is why we are able to subsist on many different diets but to make gross generalizations that an evolutionary food like meat is somehow dangerous to human health is as absurd as it is scientifically invalid.
We have all seen red meat blamed for countless diseases in the media. Disease rates like diabetes, heart disease and obesity are out of control and yet, since the 1970s Americans have actually reduced red meat consumption by 28%.(1) Looking at the PURE study from 2017, published in the Lancet, we see that it was actually high carbohydrate intake that was associated with higher risk of total mortality and that global guidelines should be reconsidered in light of this evidence. Additional findings were that red meat is actually good for you. It was associated with lower risk of both heart attack and early death. The people of Hong Kong have both the highest life expectancy AND the highest per capita meat consumption on the planet.(2) A 2020 systematic review showed those who abstained from meat showed significantly increased incidence of depression, anxiety and self-harm behaviors.(3) And in several randomized controlled trials red meat intake used as a replacement for dietary carbohydrate was shown to improve blood pressure, markers of oxidative stress and inflammation.(4-5) These are things you don’t hear about on the nightly news and yet they are some of the most relevant and recent science on meat intake.
In March of 2001, the Institute of Medicine report Crossing the Quality Chasm stated…“It now takes an average of 17 years for new knowledge generated by randomized controlled trails to be incorporated into practice, and even then application is highly uneven.” Do you think nutrition is any different? Spoiler alert…it is not. People who think they are getting cutting edge clinical care or nutrition advice would be shocked to learn just how behind most clinicians really are. People who work in the field of “Knowledge Translation” have tried hard to close the gap between research and practice but ultimately bloated government organizations are far too slow to ever keep current.
So ultimately we must take control of our own healthy by arming ourselves with knowledge. We simply cannot rely on government health organizations, doctors, or the media to get us out of a public heath fiasco created by the runaway influence of a food and pharmaceutical industry far more concerned about profit than creating robust human health. It is simply more profitable to convince the population that natural foods that can be grown on our farms are dangerous and lab creations are better for people and the environment. This creates a loop of dependence on both industries and repeat, lifelong customers. This is the playbook. Simple, obvious and the actual public health crisis we ALL face today.
Take one step closer to robust human health and divorce yourself from the industrial systems that have given us nothing but dependence and sickness over the past 100 years. There is nothing more important in the year 2022!
References
1."Health Not Improving — The Nutrition Coalition." https://www.nutritioncoalition.us/americans-follow-the-guidelines-but-their-health-has-not-improved-1. Accessed March 5, 2022.
2."People in Hong Kong Have the Longest Life Expectancy in the ....", https://nam.edu/people-in-hong-kong-have-the-longest-life-expectancy-in-the-world-some-possible-explanations/. Accessed March 5, 2022.
3."Meat and mental health: a systematic review of meat ....", https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2020.1741505. Accessed March 5, 2022.
4."Partial substitution of carbohydrate intake with protein intake ...." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16600928/. Accessed March 5, 2022.
5."Increased lean red meat intake does not elevate ... - PubMed." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17237312/. Accessed March 5, 2022.