In the past few decades, meat has been blamed for all kinds of diseases.
But our ancestors and we are now eating meat for a long time, and blaming new health problems for this kind of food seems to be unfounded.
Here are 7 reasons why you don't need to avoid meat (unless you want to).
1. We Work Optimally When Eating Both Animals And Plants
During evolution, humans and human ancestors ate meat.
Our digestive system is extremely well equipped to fully utilize the fats, proteins and nutrients found in animal foods.
The truth is that humans are omnivores. Our bodies work best when eating both animals and plants.
The human digestive system is much shorter than the herbivore's digestive system and does not have specialized organs for digesting cellulose, a major fiber in plants.
People also have fangs, have large brains, have the ability to be a tool for hunting. Meat is one of the reasons people can evolve great and possess such complex brains.
Some of the earliest evidence showed that the ancestors of humans had eaten meat very early about 1.5 million years ago.
2. Meat Contains Many Nutrients
High quality unprocessed meat is rich in nutrients.
100 grams of raw ground beef contains vitamins B12, B3 (Niacin), B6, iron, zinc, selenium and many other vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin B12 is an especially important vitamin because it cannot be obtained from the consumption of plants. Most people who avoid eating animal foods lack this vitamin.
Unprocessed meat also contains healthy fats, but grass meat meat is five times more omega-3 fat than meat from grain-fed animals.
But the nutritional components of meat far exceed all the macronutrients we are familiar with.
There are also a lot of little-known nutrients in meat, which we cannot get from plants.
- Creatine does not store energy in muscles and the brain and is found only in animal food.
- Carnosine functions as an antioxidant, helping to protect against many degenerative processes. Carnosine is also found only in animal foods
- DHA and EPA are the active forms of omega-3 in the human body and are found primarily in animal foods. The body is inefficiently converting ALA (plant omega form) into active forms.
And many other nutrients are only found in animals that are not present in plants. This is like having nutritional ingredients only found in plants and never in animals.
3. Meat Does Not Increase The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease And Diabetes
There are many claims that meat is one of the reasons that contribute to serious illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The main reason for these claims is because meat contains saturated fat.
However, this illusory thing has been brighter in recent years.
Today's studies show that saturated fat in the diet is not associated with cardiovascular disease.
In a large study from Harvard University, data from 20 studies with 1,218,380 people were examined, and they found no association between unprocessed red meat and cardiovascular disease. diabetes.
Many studies in Europe have not found any link between unprocessed meat and these diseases.
However, for processed meat, all studies have shown an increased risk.
So, if you want to avoid meat, you should avoid processed meat, and unprocessed meat is very good.
4. Meat Contains High Quality Protein Content
Proteins are long chains of amino acids that are joined together and form complex shapes.
There are about 9 amino acids that we cannot produce, which must be taken from the diet.
In this regard, animal proteins contain all of the amino acids that we need, while many plant proteins have non-optimal amino acid components.
Not surprisingly, the consumption of animal protein is closely related to increasing muscle mass.
Another point is, protein is important for bone health. Studies show that protein consumption is associated with increased bone density in old age and reduced risk of bone fractures.
If you want to gain muscle, prevent osteoporosis in old age, protein in meat is the best option for you, helping you get the most health benefits.
5. There Is A Very Weak Correlation For Cancer
There are several studies that show an association between red meat and cancer. However, these studies are only observational studies, not reliable.
These studies often make the mistake of combining together unprocessed meat and processed meat together. This is unacceptable because these two types of meat have completely different effects.
In fact, processed meat is closely related to increased risk of cancer, and this is not true for unprocessed red meats.
The meta-analyzes are studies that analyze data from multiple research sources at the same time. The results show that the link between red meat and cancer is very weak.
These studies only found a very small increase in risk for men, and did not increase the risk for women.
This can be said to have an effect on cooking meat. Because carcinogens can be formed when the meat is cooked too well.
Therefore, it is important that you know how to use harmonious cooking methods and remove all parts of burnt food.
6. No Proven Health Benefits When Avoiding Meat
There is no evidence to prove that avoiding meat will bring many health benefits. This is absolutely true.
There are also some observational studies that show that vegetarians have a lower risk of getting some diseases.
However, these results are explained mainly by the fact that vegetarians have a good overall health awareness, they exercise more, have fewer cigarettes and have a healthier lifestyle ... etc.
When vegetarians are compared to meat eaters who have a good sense of health, there is no difference.
You should also note that vegetarian or vegan diets recommend that people eat unprocessed foods, stay away from supplements, refined grains and trans fats.
If the vegetarian diet is really healthy, perhaps this is the main reason, not because they remove unprocessed animal foods.
7. Some Other Causes
Meat is not a devil diet.
You can avoid eating meat for a number of reasons such as moral or environmental problems. And you can still be completely healthy just because your body has all the essential nutrients from other sources.
