While on my weekly grocery shopping spree I was watching the butcher pull steak after steak of Eye of Round out of the cooler for me, 8lb. in all. I started to wonder, I eat 7 to 8lb of red meat a week, will this eventually catch up with me? Will I develop cancer or other health related illnesses as a result of my red meat consumption levels? I only eat free range beef that claims to have never been exposed to antibiotics, growth hormones and was raised on whole grains. Does anyone have an opinion on excess red meat consumption and long-term health?
Free range red meat - the food nature intended us to eat. Don’t worry about it. (But by the way, if it is true free-range beef, then it couldn’t have been raised on whole grains. Cows sent out to pasture generally eat grass, not oatmeal with a scoop of Chocolate Grow! mixed in for taste.)
Here are the possible consequences, in terms of severity:
1. Extreme muscle gain.
2. Increased Testosterone.
3. Increased micronutrient ingestion.
4. Extreme muscle gain.
Did I forget anything, guys?
King Protein, Yes I dont know what I was thinking… Yes they are out grazing in a pasture… Not eating processed grains.
The Latest US and World News - USA TODAY healthscience/health/ cancer/2001-06-22-cancer-meat.htm
Only PROCESSED red meat is linked to cancer.
Processed or not, I don’t care! It’s red meat! And I eat as much as I can! And that’s easily 5-10 pounds a week! I love red meat!
Thanks Mikazuki! It was all there in the first few lines…
"Eating lots of preserved meats such as salami, bacon, cured ham and hot dogs could increase the risk of bowel cancer by 50%, early results of a major new study have suggested. However, when it came to fresh red meat ? beef, lamb, pork and veal ? there seemed to be no link.
If you’re talking processed as in beef jerkey, hot doggs, sausage, etc, then that’s not what I’m talking about. I eat red meat! The real stuff! Ground beef, ribs, steak! I won’t eat hot dogs, and if I ever eat sausage, it’s usually smoked turkey sausage for my jumbalaya. I’m not down with that crap processed junk!
How much do you spend on Red meat each month?
It won’t hurt you. Just make sure that you’re getting all the other stuff you need as well in your diet.
Personally, I feel that the problems that people have found in diets with a lot of red meat were not due to the meat itself, but to the subjects’ having a severe imbalance in what they ate. I.e., they were eating a lot of meat so they weren’t hungry enough to eat all the other stuff that’s necessary to maintain health. In particular, people whom I’ve trained and who have eaten a lot of protein-rich foods tend to neglect getting enough fiber - something that WILL cause cancer if left long enough.
I’m not against red meat at all. Far from it - I eat a lot myself. But don’t skip the other stuff.
Red meat is the shit and no one is denying it. It is the preferred food when un-processed and raised well… Here is my take on the problems associated. First off as you all know never listen to media crap.
The first thing that I would consider as being cautious about is the amount of hormones and antibiotics used in the meat. We do not know if the homones used in the meat are broken down into the constituent aminos or kept as is. I believe that it is a combo of both so the first thing you would want to do is get hormone free meat.
- The next step would be to get free range beef if possible. Point here is a number of dangers could be associated with grain fed beef. The grain proteins from things such as corn or wheat or even SOY!!! are assimilated into the muscle meats and organs. I remember reading about a number of people who got sick from beef from a certain place because they had fed them soy beans and they were allergic to soy. This goes to show that the make up of meat is not as is naturally intended.
Secondly the fat now made instead of a good ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 is way way off from where it should be. Free range beef should have a substantial amount of omega 3’s and not be too overly unproportionate with the omega 6’s.
Now that I have just rambled what does this mean… If possible try to find the best quality meat possible… even poultry and fish… Same rules apply. Grain fed salmon in farms and hormone injected chicken. Same deal… I dont know why red meat gets the bad rap. Keep up with the fish oil to try to balance the omega ratio and just EAT RED MEAT!! FRESH RED MEAT!!! Anything fresh is going to be better than a preserved meat item with lots of nitrites.
Alex- Bigbear
char-dawg said it all, nothing more to add.
How are you guys getting this “clean” (hormone free, free range) meat?
Do you go to the grocery store and ask them for it or do you go to a special meat store?
Thanks to all who replied… To RenegadeDragon, I spend about 50 to 60 dollars of my $200 monthly grocery bill on Meat & Chicken. To char-dawg, I agree with your fiber standpoint. I eat 2 to 3 bowls of oatmeal a day, plus lots of whole (Black&Kidney) beans. I need to increase my intake of green leafy vegetables though. I eat 1000 grams of yams a week but I realize that the green vegetables are important too. I feel that more green vegetables would round my diet out and make it more complete.