Avoid red meat for longer life

Most of us have probably heard about the dangerous effects that red meat consumption has on our health, mainly due to the fact that this type of food is quite fatty.

However, there are many other health dangers that the consumption of this meat carries with it and some of the most serious ones will be mentioned below. Thus, if you desire to learn how red meat can prove to be a deadly part of your diet, read on.

Red Meat in Diet

As far as the cuisine is concerned, red meat signifies meat which is red when raw and not white when cooked. Basically, all sorts of mammal meat are known to be read meat, from a nutritional point of view.

Thus, while white meat appears bright once cooked, red meat stays darker. However, certain cultures have different standpoints when it comes to meat classification. Therefore, some consider poultry meat to be white while reserving the definition “red” for cow, sheep, horse and other such types of meat.

Either way, red meat does not depend on the quality of cooking, nor does it represent a specific food preparation method. Rather, the focus in on the sources behind the meat itself. Nevertheless, red meat is commonly connected with cancer, diseases and various other health problems. So, usually, red meat is notorious for its unhealthy characteristics and many nutritionists and health experts advise people to avoid this meat whenever possible.

What Risks are Associated with Red Meat?

One of the major risks related to red meat consumption is the possible development of cancers. In fact, one of the most common cancers connected to red meat in one's diet is colorectal cancer. Namely, according to the information provided by the National Institute for Cancer Research, red meat increases a person's susceptibility to this condition.

As far as other types of cancer are concerned esophageal, lung, pancreatic and endometrial, all have been related to red meat consumption. Therefore, numerous health practitioners recommend limiting your weekly intake of red meat to 300g, especially due to the fact that breast cancer, stomach cancer, lymphoma and bladder cancer have all been related to this type of food.

However, the grim list of dangers related to red meat does not end here. Red meat does not benefit our heart. On the contrary, it leads to ischemic heart disease or even cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, some researchers have even discovered that red meat is connected to certain occurrences of strokes and acute coronary syndrome, along with atherosclerosis.

Over the course of 21 year, a group of the Seventh Day's Adventists conducted a research on people and their red meat consumption, finding out that all who eat this meat on a regular basis risk 60% greater chances of dying from a heart disease, especially if the meat is processed.

Diabetes can be traced back to red meat being common in one's diet too. Basically, due to the fact that frequent consumption of meat which is high in proteins leads to weight gain, this weight gain increases a person's chances of suffering from diabetes. Note that plant-based proteins do not have this effect. In fact, in 1998, a study compared the BMI of vegetarians and non-vegetarians, discovering that the former have about 30% lower BMI, mainly because they do not follow the, so-called, western cuisine.

Thus, the equation is simple – red meat leads to obesity in many cases, and obesity is known to be connected with diabetes and numerous other health problems, some being more severe than others.

Processed meat is a great danger of modern nutrition, leading to countless cases of death due to various health complications every single year. Moreover, the numbers of mortalities related to this cause rises annually.

Another, detailed and long-term research resulted in information which only made red meat more dangerous. Basically, according to the results provided by the National Institute of Health and AARP Diet and Health, out of 500,000 tested men and women, 31% of those who were in danger of dying were in such a situation due to their daily red meat consumption.

During the study itself, about 11% of deaths appeared in men and 16% in women, all of which could have been prevented if the subjects agreed to avoid red meat consumption.

Therefore, the conclusion is more than clear – red meat is dangerous. During the food preparation processes related to this meat, it releases carcinogens and the iron found in the meat increases the oxidative cell damage, potentially triggering the formation of cancer, especially breath and colorectal cancer.

Therefore, if you desire to stay healthy and life a happy, long life, make sure that you either avoid consuming red meat or consume red meat in moderation, not more than 300g a week. Red meat jeopardizes our health in many different ways, and we should be aware of these dangers, keeping ourselves safe.