Reasons Why Eating Red Meat Is Actually Good For Your Health
Photo cred - Mike
The only thing better than eating Filet Mignon, is Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon. And what could possibly be better than that? The fact that it is actually good for you. Not subjective to just Filet Mignon but to red meat in general, including processed meat like bacon, and unprocessed like lamb, hamburger meat, and beef. Red meat has been getting a bad rap because of healthy user bias. Sure, many studies have reported results of red meat and its link to cancer but they are inconclusive because it was based on the standard American Meat and Potatoes diet. Harvard recently did a study on the different types of meats to see if they had different effects on the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
Turns out we were wrong about the risks. No cuts of unprocessed red meat were associated to higher risk of heart disease.
Since no consistent evidence has been demonstrated that moderate consumption of red meat actually causes harm to the body then it is fair to accept that in general the confounding variables are insignificant. In fact, many individuals who lead a healthy lifestyle with the occasional consumption of unprocessed red meat are healthier individuals than counterparts who just chose meat sources like chicken.
Photo cred - Kurt Vandersheer
Red meats are also high in iron, zinc, selenium, and magnesium. They are in the form of these minerals which are easiest for our bodies to use especially iron. You may already know that red meat contains vitamin B12, thiamin, riboflavin, panthotenic acid, folate, niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin D. Red meats are also cuts of the “good” fat like saturated fats, monosaturated fats, and can contain good levels of omega-3 fatty acids. And of course, it is a great source of protein.
Red meat cuts are also impressively low in calories. A 4-oz tenderloin steak is about 200 calories, has no carbs, 7 g of fat, and 32g of protein. It is a great food source when trying to stay thin or even put on lean muscle mass.
Incorporating a serving of red-meat into your diet once a week will not cause harm as so commonly believed.