The term “Red meat” refers to the meat (particularly the muscles) of mammals which are naturally red when raw. Common source of red meat includes cow, goat, pork, lamb and most common wild mammals consumed as “bush meat” widely in most parts of the world especially in Africa.
Red meat is one of the food items most debated upon, a lot of controversies circulate in the media and even amongst health specialists with different people holding differing and contradicting opinions some of which are based on some evidence.
The ironic fact is, whether you think red meat is good for your health or you think is bad for your health, you are probably right. It’s more or less like too sides of a coin, it depends on which side you want to focus on.
Looking on the good side of the coin, why most people consume red meat and why a lot of health specialists are not making a fuss about the disadvantages of consuming red meat. The reason is that Red meat has high amounts of protein, which helps promote muscle growth, and vitamin B12 to make red blood cells.
For example, an 85grams or 3-ounce serving has about 45% of the Daily Value (DV) of protein, 35% of the DV for B12, 25% of the DV for vitamin B3(niacin) and 18% of the DV for Vitamin B6(pyridoxine). “Daily value” is the amount of a nutrient that is considered sufficient for the body’s requirement daily. A serving of red meat is also a good source of zinc, which can help the body produce testosterone, and selenium, a powerful antioxidant. Plus, red meat is rich in iron also needed in production of red cells.
Red meat is also rich in important nutrients like creatine and carnosine. Non-meat eaters(vegetarians) are often low in these nutrients, which may potentially affect muscle and brain function.
The other side of the coin.
On the other hand, a lot of research have linked high consumption of red meat to higher chances of developing certain heart diseases, typeII Diabetes and stomach and intestinal cancers, so much so that red meat has been classified as group 2A carcinogen and processed red meat has been classified by W.H.O as group 1 carcinogen implying a strong link to cancers. A carcinogen is an agent that is capable of causing cancers in humans or increase that chances of cancer development.
It’s important to mention that it’s not simply consumption of red meat that causes problem, it is high consumption. So if you eat too much red meat frequently, you need to cut it down. But how much is too much?.. that’s another topic for debate.