Is eating meat actually bad for us?
This question was the focus of a recent study by the University of Adelaide.
The results are good news for meat lovers!
University of Adelaide researcher in biomedicine and study author Dr Wenpeng You said, “We wanted to look more closely at research that has thrown a negative spotlight on meat consumption in the human diet.”
The study across more than 170 countries concluded, “eating meat still offers important benefits for overall human health and life expectancy,” Dr You said.
“While detrimental effects of meat consumption on human health have been found in some studies in the past, the methods and findings in these studies are controversial and circumstantial.”
The study considered human evolution – finding meat provided optimal nutrition to our ancestors and we have inherited those adaptations.
Given the shift towards associating vegetarian and vegan diets with improved health, this may not contradict the beneficial effect of meat consumption.
The study’s nutritionist Yanfei Ge said, “Studies looking into the diets of wealthy, highly educated communities are looking at people who have the purchasing power and the knowledge to select plant-based diets that access the full nutrients normally contained in meat.”
“Essentially, they have replaced meat with all the same nutrition meat provides.”
Read more in the International Journal of General Medicine.