HowToPreventHeartDisease.com

Should People Continue Eating Red Meat?
 

Red meat, in traditional culinary terminology, refers to meat that is red when raw and not white when cooked. It includes fresh, minced and frozen beef, veal, pork, duck and lamb. In contrast, processed meats are those that are preserved by methods other than freezing, like salting, smoking, marinating, air-drying or heating. Ham, bacon, sausages, hamburgers and corned beef are good examples of processed meat.

In terms of nutrition, red meat is a source of iron. It also contains protein, minerals like zinc and phosphorus, and vitamins such as niacin, vitamin B12, thiamin and riboflavin. On the other hand, red meat is also linked to many health risks including cancers, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), and stroke.

A paper published by researchers from Harvard University on March 12, 2012 in the ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’ revealed that eating a portion of processed red meat daily can raise a person's risk of dying young by up to 20 percent.

The new findings offered more evidence that eating red meat, especially processed meat, increases the risk of hear disease and cancer, and it also stipulated that by substituting red meat by fish and poultry, the mortality rate could be lowered.

37,698 men and 83,644 women were examined and followed for 22 and 28 years respectively. Every 4 years, the participants answered surveys regarding their eating habits. Participants who ate a card-deck-sized serving of unprocessed red meat everyday on average had 13 percent more risk of dying than those who did not eat red meat as frequently. If the red meat was processed, such as hot dog or 2 slices of bacon, the risk was increased to 20 percent.

When nuts substituted red meat, the total mortality risk was lowered by 19 percent. The risk was reduced by 14 percent when participants chose poultry or whole grain instead of red meat, and the risk was cut by 7 percent if they ate fish instead. In fact, between 7 and 9 percent of all deaths in the study could be prevented if all the participants ate fewer than 0.5 servings per day of total red meat.

Processed red meat has been blamed to cause many chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer because it contains such ingredients as saturated fat, sodium, nitrites and some carcinogens.

Does this mean that people should totally stop eating red meat? Perhaps, you should decide after reading more about what other health experts said.

First of all, it is possible that the participants in the Harvard study were less likely to physically active, more likely to smoke, drink alcohol and have a higher BMI (body mass index). They were also more likely to have a higher energy intake and ate less whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Moreover, there are scientific evidences to support the role of lean red meat in a healthy diet. There is no evidence that its consumption as a part of a healthy diet and lifestyle would have adverse effects on health. In fact, the nutrition contained in red meat helps prevent iron and zinc deficiencies.

The key for healthy food habits is to cut down portion sizes, saturated fats and salt. People should not simply stop eating red meat just based on one study. Instead, people should look at the amount of red meat they are actually eating and if that is lean red meat or processed meat. There is a big difference between a nice cut of lean steak from the butcher and processed red meat like those found in hamburgers, sausage rolls and processed ham.

Having around 65 to 100 grams of lean red meat a serve for at least 3 to 4 times a week should be fine for most people, according to some dietitians. While their advices regarding not to have takeaways, not to have biscuits and cakes have been disseminated regularly, it does not seem to be heard by most people.

Copyright 2007-2012 © HowToPreventHeartDisease.com . All Rights Reserved.d........
Created by EpublishingVault.com
Heart Disease Prevention - 8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately