Should we be eating red meat?
With the recent report by the World Health Organisation warning that processed meat and possibly red meat can cause cancer I guess there will be many people out there tempted to turn vegetarian?
Don’t do anything rash!!
I have put together a few Do’s and a few Don’t here which may help get things in proportion
Do
Do keep processed meat to a minimum
It makes sense to keep processed meats to a minimum, food processing in any form invariably causes health problems
Do go for quality
If you do eat processed meat go for really good quality, find a butcher who makes their own sausages and sources their bacon locally
Do eat meat with vegetables
Always eat meat with a healthy portion of fresh vegetables (eat in colour!). Meat can lead to acidity in the body which can be buffered through eating vegetables
Do eat red meat to boost iron levels
Red meat is the best source of Iron known to man, we absorb iron more readily from meat sources than vegetable sources
Don’t
Don’t become a vegetarian
Don’t over react and become vegetarian, vegetarian diets unless very well thought out can leave you deficient in many nutrients i.e. protein, essential fatty acids, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin B12 and vitamin D
Don’t eat red meat more than twice a week
Don’t eat red meat more than twice a week and again go for quality i.e. free range meat, grass fed beef and hill grazed lamb. Again find a good butcher you can trust
Don’t barbeque you meat
Cooking methods can often be just as damaging as the foods themselves. Don’t cook meat at high temperatures and in particular don’t barbeque you sausage, beef etc. These methods produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are very carcinogenic
Don’t ignore age old nourishing traditions
Slow cooked broths and stews using meat bones have tremendous health benefits in relation to immune function which cannot be ignored. Remember again that quality is key here
Hope this helps.
If you are unsure of what exactly counts as processed meat please see this BBC News article