Top Facts and Myths About Meat Consumption
Have you found yourself from time to time talking about eating healthy? Does the list of the things you will eat include meat? In most cases, people talk about eating meat the healthy way without actually knowing how to do it. You will come across advice about reducing the consumption of processed and red meat. You will also come across other people saying that meat has potential health risks. However, do you understand these reasons? Whether you eat wet meat or dry steak from The Aging Room, there is a lot of confusion surrounding meat consumption, but this article is here to clear the air. We will discuss several facts and myths about meat consumption.
Fact 1: Meatless Diets Are Not Healthy Diets
Many people believe that as long as you are not taking meat, you are eating healthy. However, the fact is, meatless diets are not necessarily healthy diets. There are various diseases related to diet from foods, like fruits, nuts, yogurt, seafood, whole grains, and more. Others come from highly-processed foods in elements like starch, sugar, and salt. Therefore, instead of avoiding eating meat completely, you can choose to occasionally eat unprocessed meat.
Fact 2: Processed Meat is Bad for Your Health
The bad thing about processed meat is that it contains preservatives that can harm the body. For instance, the meat labeled “no nitrates” also contains fermented celery powder rich in nitrite. Additionally, preservatives like heme and sodium contain carcinogens, an element produced during smoking and charring.
Fact 3: Plant-based Meat is Best for Environment
Conventional beef production impacts the environment. It is concluded that the impact is on poultry, fish, and dairy and even higher than nuts, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. Therefore, plant-based meat is a healthier alternative for the environment. It uses less energy, water, and land. Furthermore, it produces less greenhouse gas compared to conventional production.
Myth 1: Lean Meat is the Best
For many years, advice on meat consumption has been about focusing on lean meat. The argument is that lean meat has lower saturated fat and cholesterol elements. However, the truth is, there is no association between these elements and health problems such as cancer or heart attack. So, whether lean or not, processed meat is harmful.
Myth 2: Red Meat is Great for your Health
According to studies, unprocessed meat, when consumed with modesty, does not seem to cause any health issues related to cancers, death, or heart disease. So, eating unprocessed pork, lamb or steak will neither improve nor worsen your health. However, there is a link between red meat and type 2 diabetes. The heme iron that gives red meat this color may cause Type 2 diabetes.
Myth 3: Grass-fed Beef is Healthier
Conventionally, livestock eats forage that contains legumes, greens, and grass. It also east hay containing barley, soy, or corn. So, grass-fed livestock does not necessarily eat forage only. Actually, the terms of the type of meat relate to where the animal lived and not what it ate. Therefore, there is no supportive evidence that grass-fed meat is better than conventional meat.
Takeaway!
A lot of questions about how healthy meat continues to linger. However, the most important thing is knowing how to consume meat the healthy way. Generally, avoiding processed meat is one way since it comes with preservatives that can sometimes harm the body.
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