Meat _ NOT a Nutritional Pariah

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Not for the vegetarian crowd!

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ron

Meat - NOT a Nutritional Pariah

Meat has been a subject of great controversy. Many of you have heard that meat

causes anything from colon cancer to heart disease. Let's analyze these

accusations one by one.

First, let's look at the meat - colon cancer connection. Several studies have

shown NO correlation between meat and the incidence of colon cancer, others have

shown a correlation with processed meats, others have shown a correlation

between meat and colon cancer, and still others have shown a correlation with

overcooked, burnt meat, although others have shown no such connection. However,

most nutritionists will agree that there is no definitive mechanism by which

meat causes cancer.

My opinion is that meat in it of itself does NOT lead to cancer. This is

supported by many studies, especially those measuring fresh meat consumption. I

think that two main things contribute to the contention that meat causes colon

cancer. First is the stuff that is eaten with the meat, namely refined,

processed starches and sugars. Think about it. In this country, a hamburger goes

along with a white bun, french fries and a large soda, a steak with steak fries

or some other type of potato, a hot dog with a bun and some kind of starch or

fried food, a deli sandwich with white bread and potato chips. Very rarely in

this country do you see people eat fresh meat with just a salad. Furthermore, a

large amount of the meat eaten is cured or processed with carcinogenic

preservatives. This includes bacon, hot dogs, sausage, and most deli meats. It

is thus not surprising that some studies show a correlation between meat and

cancer. In fact, if we delve even further into the matter, we will find that in

fact, many studies find a correlation between the consumption of starches and

other refined carbohydrates, and colon cancer. There is no reason to believe

that fresh meat will lead to any disease. Why? Well, hunter-gatherers who ate

very high meat diets in the absence of processed, refined foods had practically

non existent levels of colon cancer. But doesn't wild meat contain very little

fat? Yes - and no. This leads us to the saturated fat content of meat.

Today's cattle, unfortunately, are for the most part stuffed with pesticide

laden grains and soybeans to fatten them up. They get very little exercise, and

as a result have high levels of unnatural fat in their muscles and elsewhere.

Now, to be fair, there are cattle farmers out there who raise free range cattle

which eat grasses and organic feed, and get more exercise, but even those don't

approach the fat levels and content of wild animals (who tend to be lean and

have more healthy Omega 3 FA's in them). So what should we do? I personally

choose the leanest cuts of meat, and trim all visible fat off of my meat. Other

than that, I'm not too worried. Why? Because most of the fat from beef is fine.

That's right. Perfectly okay. It turns out that about half of the saturated fat

in meat is stearic acid, a saturated fat that doesn't raise LDL levels. Meat

also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a powerful anti-carcinogen and fat

burner. Furthermore, about half of the fat in meat is monounsatured (the same

type of fat found in olive oil). Although hunter-gatherers ate lean, wild

animals, they also ate the organs of these animals which contain large amounts

of fat (including saturated fat). Meat contains nice amounts of B vitamins,

which lower blood levels of homocysteine, a marker for heart disease.

Finally, there is no evidence in the literature (outside of poorly controlled

studies) to support the contention that meat consumption leads to heart disease.

In fact, the French have one of the highest per capita consumption of meat yet

low rates of heart disease. In Greece, too, meat consumption is higher than

average but there too rates of heart disease are low. Finally, in Spain, an

increase in meat consumption (with a corresponding decrease in sugar and high

carbohydrate foods) led to a decrease in heart disease.

The bottom line is that eating a balanced, varied diet such as the TBK diet with

some meat and some fish, as well as poultry, is healthy and nutritious. Meat

contains all of the B-vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc, iron, phosphorous,

potassium, magnesium, and lots of high quality protein. It's a mistake to

exclude it from your diet. Just be smart and stay away from cured and preserved

meats, and don't burn or overcook your meat and you'll reap the benefits of meat

without having to worry about potential side effects.

References

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gastric cancer: a case-control study in Uruguay. Nutrition & Cancer

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Chatenoud, et al. Refined-cereal intake and risk of selected cancers in Italy.

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La Vecchia C, et al. A case-control study of diet and colo-rectal cancer in

northern Italy. International Journal of Cancer. 1988;41:492-498.

Augustsson K, et al. Dietary heterocyclic amines and cancer of the colon,

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Goldbohm RA, et al. A prospective cohort study on the relation between meat

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Krosner JA, et al. Colorectal carcinoma: Risk factors for the development of

colorectal carcinoma and their modification. Hematology/oncology Clinics of

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Zhuo, XG and Watanabe S. " Factor analysis of digestive cancer mortality and food

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Renauld S, and DeLorgeril M. Wine, alcohol, platelets, and the French paradox

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Serra-Majem L, et al. How could changes in diet explain changes in coronary

heart disease? The Spanish paradox. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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USDA nutrient database