Setting the Record Straight in Regard to the Health of Eating Meat

As I’ve repeated multiple times, what a person chooses to eat should be entirely up to them. Nobody else has the right to make that decision. I have friends who are vegans, others who are vegetarians, and yet others who eat meat. What they choose to eat has absolutely no impact on our friendship.

Recently, though, I’ve been fielding a lot of questions regarding whether or not it is healthy to eat meat, especially red meat. Some of the other answers repeat the misinformation that is out there, so I wanted to set the record straight. My purpose for this article isn’t to convince anyone to eat meat, I don’t have that right. I merely want to give the facts. I love answering questions, but it can become bothersome to answer the same questions over and over, citing exactly the same facts.

Eating meat can certainly be healthy, as long as the internal temperature reaches 160°. Meat contains a large amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals, particularly vitamin B12, which comes from animal products. It is also high in vitamins B3, B6, Selenium, Zinc, heme Iron. It contains the Omega 3 fatty acids found in DHA and BPA and these are found exclusively in meat. Contrary to what some people might think, meat doesn’t cause cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and all cholesterol-related diseases as was once believed. It turns out that most of these can be attributed to a high-carbohydrate, high-sugar diet. Meat contains no carbs. Carbs come from plants. It has also been shown that people who don’t eat meat are more likely to suffer health issues related to the bones, bone density, and joints than in people who eat meat. Note, however, that highly processed meat, such as lunch meat, can cause cancer, but this isn’t because of the meat, it is because of the chemicals that are added during processing.

Meat also contains creatine, an essential nutrient that impacts mental and physical processes, and it contains carnosine, which is a powerful anti-oxidant not found in plants. Creatine is also not found in plants. Eating meat can also be helpful for weight-loss. Eating meat can boost the burning of calories by up to 40%. In fact, according to Harvard University, a healthy diet includes consists of meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains.

Eating meat lessens the chance of having problems with depression, digestive disorders, anxiety, and mood swings. All of these maladies are linked to a vegetarian diet. 

Numerous studies have shown that eating meat is healthy. Naturally, like everything else, it should be eaten in moderation. Still, it is entirely up to the individual, whether or not they eat meat. They should be able to make that decision without misinformation and some people telling them that it will shorten their lives, give them cancer, and so forth. None of this is true.

Here is an interesting fact or two: About 89% of the world’s population eat meat, roughly 6.853 billion people, assuming a world population of 7.7 billion, yet the average life expectancy is increasing. If meat wasn’t healthy, the life span would be decreasing, even with advancements in medicine. Also,  it is an accepted fact that our ancestors have been eating meat for 1.5 million years. It certainly didn’t wipe out Homo sapiens.