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Eating Meat: a Little Doesn't Hurt

Eating Meat

By Elizabeth Somer, MA,RD

I've heard that eating meat isn't healthy. What makes it unhealthy? Should I change my diet to cut down on the meat I eat?

Several studies show that meat, which has a high amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, can increase the risk of heart disease in both men and women. The risk of developing heart disease among meat-eaters is 50 percent higher than that of vegetarians. In fact, researchers have found that the longer and more often people eat meat, the greater their risk of heart disease. Consequently, people who adopt a vegetarian diet early in life have a lower risk of heart disease than do people who wait until after age 50 to switch from meat to beans.

However, in all fairness to the T-bone steak, meat may not be the only factor at play. Instead, people who eat less meat may be benefiting from the protective effects of other foods, especially the fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes found in a vegetarian diet. This is what researchers found when they studied members of the Seventh-day Adventist religious group, who are vegetarian. Researchers studying the group found that they developed fewer cases of cancer than the general population. But they also discovered it wasn't their avoiding meat that necessarily protected them from cancer; rather, their consumption of lots of fruits, legumes and vegetables appeared to give them added protection against certain cancers.

To add to the controversy, a recent study published in the June 26, 1999 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine found that including a little extra-lean red meat in the weekly diet did not increase the risk for developing heart disease in a group of men and women.

Since meat is the very best and most easily absorbed source of iron, premenopausal women, teenage girls and young children -- all of whom are at high risk for iron deficiency -- might consider including a little meat in their diets. In short, while the days of the 16-ounce steak are gone, a 3-ounce serving of extra-lean meat (7 percent fat by weight) a couple times a week is not a problem

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