Moo

Look, you don’t have to be a vegetarian, just eat less red meat.
Allow me to cherry pick this article (which is one of many) today.

• The study of more than 500,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans found that those who consumed about four ounces of red meat a day (the equivalent of about a small hamburger) were more than 30 percent more likely to die during the 10 years they were followed, mostly from heart disease and cancer. Sausage, cold cuts and other processed meats also increased the risk.

• “The uniqueness of this study is its size and length of follow-up,” said Barry M. Popkin, a professor of global nutrition at the University of North Carolina, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “This is a slam-dunk to say that, ‘Yes, indeed, if people want to be healthy and live longer, consume less red and processed meat.’ “

• There are many explanations for how red meat might be unhealthy: Cooking red meat generates cancer-causing compounds; red meat is also high in saturated fat, which has been associated with breast and colorectal cancer; and meat is high in iron, also believed to promote cancer. People who eat red meat are more likely to have high blood pressure and cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. Processed meats contain substances known as nitrosamines, which have been linked to cancer.

• For instance, men in the group with the highest intake of red meat (4.5 oz or a quarter pounder a day) had a 31% higher overall risk of dying during the study period than did those in the lowest intake red meat group.  And women with the highest intake of red meat had a 50% higher risk of dying due to heart disease. Or put another way, Sinha says that 11% of all deaths in men and 16% of deaths in women could have been prevented if participants cut their red meat consumption to that eaten by the lowest intake group. Heart disease deaths could have been decreased by 11% in men and 21% in women by limiting red meat intake to the amount eaten by the lowest intake group.

• The iron in red meat may increase oxidative cell damage, leading to health problems.

• The risk also rose among those who consumed the most processed meat, which included any kind of sausage, cold cuts or hot dogs. Women who consumed the most processed meat (about an ounce a day) were about 25 percent more likely to die overall, about 11 percent more likely to die of cancer and about 38 percent more likely to die from heart disease, compared to those who ate the least. The men who ate the most processed meat were 16 percent more likely to die for any reason, about 12 percent more likely to die of cancer and about 9 percent more likely to die of heart disease.
• In addition to the health benefits, a major reduction in the eating of red meat would probably have a host of other benefits to society, Popkin said: reducing water shortages and pollution, cutting energy consumption, and tamping down greenhouse gas emissions — all of which are associated with large-scale livestock production.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The American Meat Institute (yes there really is such a thing), a trade group, dismissed the findings, however, saying they were based on unreliable self-reporting by the study participants.

“Meat products are part of a healthy, balanced diet, and studies show they actually provide a sense of satisfaction and fullness that can help with weight control. Proper body weight contributes to good health overall,” James H. Hodges, the group’s executive vice president, said in a written statement.

“Meat is an excellent source of zinc, iron, B12 and other essential vitamins and minerals,” the statement continued. “The U.S. Dietary Guidelines say to eat a balanced diet that includes lean meat. In this way, you derive a wide array of nutrients from many different sources. It’s the best return on a nutritional investment you can get.”

Look, I’m not saying become a vegetarian immediately,  just pay attention to what you’re putting in your body.  You can be very healthy being a vegetarian, but you can be very healthy being a non-vegetarian if you keep your red-meat intake low. If you eat it twice a day, cut back to once a day or even 2 to 3 times a week.  The key is to just try to eat less no matter how you do it.