Eating Lots Of Red Meat? You May Want To Rethink That

Over the years I have read various articles and books on the dangers of eating red meat on our bodies and the environment and now a new study has come out (the largest study of its kind) that further confirms these dangers. I personally do not eat red meat, chicken, fish, well any animal at all for humane reasons, however if that is not an issue to you but you are even remotely concerned about your health then you may find the below information helpful and possibly life saving one day.

“According to the largest study of its kind appearing in Monday’s archives of Internal Medicine-older Americans who eat large amounts of red meat and processed meats (hamburger, hot dogs, bacon, cold cuts, etc) face a greater risk of death from heart disease and cancer.

Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less. That’s compared to those who ate the least red meat, just 5 ounces per week.

Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less.

For processed meats, the increased risks for large quantities were slightly lower overall than for red meat. The researchers compared deaths in the people with the highest intakes to deaths in people with the lowest to calculate the increased risk.

The researchers compared deaths in the people with the highest intakes to deaths in people with the lowest to calculate the increased risk.

People whose diets contained more white meat like chicken and fish had lower risks of death.

The researchers surveyed more than 545,000 people, ages 50 to 71 years old, on their eating habits, then followed them for 10 years. There were more than 70,000 deaths during that time.

Study subjects were recruited from AARP members, a group that's healthier than other similarly aged Americans. That means the findings may not apply to all groups, Sinha said. The study relied on people's memory of what they ate, which can be faulty.

In the analysis, the researchers took into account other risk factors such as smoking, family history of cancer and high body mass index.

In an accompanying editorial, Barry Popkin, director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote that reducing meat intake would have benefits beyond improved health.

Livestock increase greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming, he wrote, and nations should reevaluate farm subsidies that distort prices and encourage meat-based diets."We've promoted a diet that has added excessively to global warming," Popkin said in an interview.

Successfully shifting away from red meat can be as easy as increasing fruits and vegetables in the diet, said Elisabetta Politi of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, N.C.

"I'm not saying everybody should turn into vegetarians," Politi said. "Meat should be a supporting actor on the plate, not the main character."

The National Pork Board and National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned the findings.

Dietitian Ceci Snyder said in a statement for the pork board that the study "attempts to indict all red meat consumption by looking at extremes in meat consumption, as opposed to what most Americans eat."”
Article from yahoo health


As is generally the case, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association and the National Pork Board questioned these findings. Of course they are going to question anything that goes against them making money so really it is hard for me to even regard anything that they say as nothing more than a selfish attempt to keep misleading the public about the dangers of meat consumption and encouraging people to eat lots of meat so that they can line their own pockets. Many of these studies on the dangers and health concerns of eating meat are provided by non-partisan groups and even the above study was a federal study and in the Archives of Internal Medicine so I believe in the validity of them.

Now keep in mind that this only my opinion and that I am a die hard animal rights activist and think that anyone who raises and kills animals for profits are –well I probably should not say .

Again, only my opinion and my passion to be humane to all beings. That is not to say that I think everyone should be a vegetarian or that those who have carnivorous appetites are wrong but I think those that actually profit from innocent animals being slaughtered are really not who I would like to be in the same room with.

Sorry if I am on my animal rights soapbox today-am going through some rough times at the moment and I tend to be a little more direct than soft right now.