MEAT. I don’t think there are many people out there who
enjoy red meat as much as I do. I love everything about it; seasoning it
liberally with salt and other spices, hearing it sizzle when it hits the hot
pan, and sinking my teeth into a juicy and tender piece. Steak night at my
house is always an occasion and the pleasant aroma that fills the kitchen
nearly has my family foaming at the mouth. While it is an expensive meal, it
certainly brings the family together for a tasty dinner.
Price isn’t the only negative when it comes to red meat
consumption. Red meat is known to have harmful health effects. Those who
consume more red meat are known to have increased risk of Type II Diabetes, Cardiovascular
Disease, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Both of my grandmothers suffered from
Alzheimer’s and after seeing how scary that can be, I begin to question my love
of meat. As well, my father suffers from Type II Diabetes which further pushes
me away from those juicy cuts. Type II Diabetes is caused by an error with the
hormone insulin. Insulin is a hormone which works to take energy out of the
bloodstream and into our tissues. The
energy is then used to power the body, allowing us to think, run, and do the
activities we want to do! Type II diabetes is caused by decreased insulin
sensitivity in the body. The body can no longer recognize the insulin molecule
and therefore cannot take the needed energy out of the bloodstream. This is why
diabetics are always checking their blood sugar levels!
With all the harmful effects of red meat being discovered, I
decided to look into a study which relates red meat and the hormone insulin.
The American Society of Nutrition recently published an article in 2016
measuring the acute effects of red meat and dairy on insulin and glucose, the
energy molecule we consume. A previous study done by the same authors studied
the long term effects of red meat and dairy on insulin: a group of participants
ate a heavy red meat and low fat dairy meals. Their results revealed that it
was the low fat diary diet which caused reduced insulin sensitivity, not the
red meat diet!
After looking at the chronic effects, they published the
acute effects in attempt to learn why the long term study had these
results. Two meals, a red meat meal and
a low fat dairy meal, were made and given to 43 participants. The meals were
measured to determine how much energy they would give to the consumer. Both
meals needed to have the same energy, known as isoenergetic, so that the red
meat and dairy component could be analyzed. The meals were given a week
apart. Glucose levels were measured
after for 3 hours after at each half hour.
The results showed that red meat and dairy both give similar glucose and
insulin responses. The dairy meal did have slightly higher insulin and glucose
levels but it wasn’t statistically significant meaning there wasn’t a big
enough difference to show discovery of something new. More research needs to be
done to determine what caused the chronic effects.
While this research is helpful, I agree with the authors in
that more research should be done. This
might be a small victory for red meat but personally I am going to cut back on
my consumption. Steak is always a tasty treat but there is simply too much
research discussing the negative effects. I urge meat lovers like myself to
think carefully before putting another steak on the barby!
Work Cited:
Turner, K.M., J. B. Keogh, and P.M. Clifton. "Acute Effect of Red Meat and Dairy on Glucose and Insulin: A Randomized Crossover Study." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 103.1 (2015): 71-76.
Picture taken from www.orlandosentinel.com
I too love red meat, and just like you I have heard so many negative health risks associated with red meat consumption. This blog will definitely help me to reduce my red meat consumption. The health risks are just too scary!!
ReplyDeleteI love red meat as well and always choose to eat red meat before chicken, pork, etc. My mom has informed me of the health problems attributed to the consumption of red meat, but I never really took her seriously. This article will definitely help me push the red meat to the side more often to better my health.
ReplyDeleteI honestly had not heard about too many affects to eating red meat before reading your entry. While I am not a huge meat eater these days, I was in the past, and wonder how this could have affected me. I found this article very interesting, and I agree with you and the authors that more reasearch should probably be done on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI honestly had not heard about too many affects to eating red meat before reading your entry. While I am not a huge meat eater these days, I was in the past, and wonder how this could have affected me. I found this article very interesting, and I agree with you and the authors that more reasearch should probably be done on the subject.
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about cutting meat from my diet makes me depressed. However, when it comes to red meat, I do think it is something that I can live without. I do, occasionally, enjoy a medium rare burger or steak! Also, I do agree with your stance that more research needs to be done on this matter because I think that the general public would cut back on their red meat consumption if they had proof rather than just having someone tell them "it's bad" for them.
ReplyDeleteI can not imagine cutting red meat out of my diet, I definitely eat red meat much more then I should. I think that I should probably cut back on it a little. I have never really looked into the health effects of red meat and I think I will look more into after reading this blog. But for the time being I think I am going to enjoy my steak!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting blog that discusses health effect of red meat consumption. I am a vegetarian so this has no effect on me, but my grand-farther cannot have a meal without meat. He is a big of of red meat as well. He happens to have Type II Diabetes, he had cut back in diary but not on red meat. It would be interesting to see if there is a study that does same experiment with Diabetic patients and see if there is any correlation with red meat consumption. As we know that diabetes correlated with our diets.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting to me because, along with most other people commenting, I enjoy red meat. I was not previously aware that red meat had many adverse effects. Even in my blog on cancer preventing foods, one of the recommendations was to eliminate red meat consumption. Also with the mediterranean diet red meat is limited. I definitely agree with your final statement that cutting back consumption is important, I think red meat should be set aside for special occasion.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of red meat, especially steak. My love of meat runs in the family where we all have some kind of meat for dinner every night. Also, during family barbecues red meat and steak are very popular since we all love it and it is a time where we all get together with extended family. After knowing all the harmful effects of consuming red meat I will do my best to limit the amount of red meat I consume. Also, as an alternative I will try barbecuing chicken and other types of meat, limiting the amount of red meat consumed. This article was very helpful and informative!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing quite like fresh steak on a summer day. My family also has a tradition of cooking out on warm days and enjoying the process of cooking various meats in the outdoors. Although, red meat can have adverse effects on health- in moderation it is perfectly alright to have as it is an excellent source of protein. I'm curious about how different the results of this study would be if they considered cooking style such as smoking meat or stir fry? Obviously, if the meat is rare it will probably have more negative effects on the consumer but the cooking style intrigues me as varying styles could be more beneficial than others.
ReplyDeleteI would most likely not be alive if I cut out meat from my diet. I enjoy all types of white or red meat as a source of my protein. I honestly would not describe a meal without meat as filling. Whether it is chicken, steak, burgers, it all seems quite delicious. There are studies done on the negative effect of red meat which we always hear about. However, it is good to know that red meat may have some beneficial as well. This topic does require more research, just like most other topic that haven't been very popular in research these days. I would like to see if they can come up with more precise results in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI do really enjoy red meat, but it is not a huge part of my diet. I only eat it when I go out to eat, which isn't something I do too often. My family is Brazilian and meat is an essential part of our diet, it is the main part of our typical plate. My mom is anemic and her doctor recommends that she incorporates red meat into her diet as a source of heme-iron. I think red meat consumption is okay as long as it is in moderation.
ReplyDeleteGreat read Tom. You're a natural blogger and really made my mouth water thinking about biting into a nice steak, you should consider writing a book. But after doing our presentation together on red meat and finding my own case studies about the topic I completely agree that there are some negative effects to red meat.
ReplyDeleteI am personally afraid of red meat and I definitely try to avoid at all cost because there dangerous microbes like salmonella that can grow in under cooked or not well prepared meats. I think this is partially due to where I grew up. I also don't like to see blood in my food. Tom, as some have already noted your blog is great and might make some mouth- watering but it had the opposite affect on me. I did not know it had negative health affect until Dr. Voura talked about the negative affects of red meat on long-term health. I agree with you Tom that more research should be done to help us better understand the effects of red meat on health. But for me, I am going to continue to keep my distance from red meat. Great Blog!
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