Red meat: Is it Good or Bad?

Meat refers to the muscle or organs of an animal consumed as food. In most parts of the world, it comes from animals raised on large industrial farms. As for red meat, it refers to meat from the source of pork, ham, and cuts from pig, lamb, and beef. Red meat is particularly said to have a link with various kinds of disease, such as heart disease and cancer; the question is, is this true?

Well, this statement is partially true. First, there are various kinds of red meat on the market. There is lean meat (meat without its fat), meat with its fat, and processed meat. Processed meat refers to meat that has undergone processes such as salting, curing, fermenting, smoking, and other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Processed meats include ham, salami, bacon, and sausages such as frankfurters and chorizo. Certain minced meats on the market also undergo this kind of processing, which makes them processed foods as well. 

Meat itself, referring to lean meat, is a healthy food. It is a good protein source and contains micronutrients such as zinc, vitamin B12, and iron. Iron in meat is easier to absorb, or, in other words, has higher bioavailability, as compared to iron from plant-based foods. Lean meat is also part of the food that is recommended to be eaten in the Malaysian Food Pyramid. 

Recommended meat consumption

It is advised to eat 1 to 2 servings of either poultry, meat, or legumes and 1 serving of fish each day, as stated in the food pyramid's section on fish, poultry, meat, and legumes. This is so because the main takeaway from the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG) is to eat a variety of foods in moderation and with balance. Therefore, it is advised to eat food from a variety of sources, such as foods containing protein, which can come from fish, meat, poultry, and eggs. The protein source for dinner must therefore be meat, poultry, or eggs if you received your protein for lunch that day from a fish source. Another question comes up: how much constitutes one serving?

 

              Example of a serving size of protein.

Serving is loosely translated into ‘sajian’ or ‘hidangan’ in Bahasa Malaysia; thus, the picture above shows how much per serving of protein there is. As for meat, 1 serving of meat is about 2 matchboxes worth of meat. For fish, a medium-sized fish is equivalent to 1 serving, while for chicken, one part of the chicken, such as a drumstick, is considered 1 serving of chicken. As for eggs, 1 egg is considered a serving of protein.

As mentioned earlier, it is not advisable to consume protein from the same source, so it is also not advisable to consume meat every day, since we have protein-based foods from a variety of sources that will give different kinds of nutrients as well, such as ‘tauhu’, ‘tempeh’, eggs, seafood, and many more.
 


The picture below shows an easy way to know how much you should consume for carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, and protein just by using your hands.
 

 


Good and bad things about meat

The study mostly found out that lean meat has various positive outcomes on individual health, especially for those with strength training exercises like athletes, as compared to if they consumed food from carbohydrates sources like pasta or rice, their muscle growth would be much slower. Another meta- analysis study that focused on the consumption of lean red meat (less than 0.5 servings per day) noted that the consumption of lean red meat does not negatively affect blood lipids or blood pressure. Which means the consumption of lean red meat does not impose a risk of heart problems, provided it is consumed within the recommended intake.

However, there are also studies that indicate that the consumption of red meat can impose health problems, such as that its saturated fat can lead to colon and breast cancer; the higher the cooking temperature for meat, the more carcinogenic it is; and the heme that is found in meat when cooked can produce compounds that can damage the cells, leading to cancer.

Which is why, when it comes to food, there is not just healthy food and unhealthy food; it is more than that. It depends on the health status of the individual consuming it, the cooking method, and various other factors.

In conclusion

Limiting red meat and processed meat to no more than 70g per day, or 2 servings per day, is the best. Consume protein-based foods from other sources of protein as well, not only red meat and processed meat, just as recommended by the Malaysia Dietary Guidelines (MDG).

References

  1. Red Meat (2019). https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/red-meat.html (Accessed on August 4, 2020).
  2. World Cancer Research Fund. Limit red and processed meat. https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/recommendations/limit-red-processed-meat#:~:text=Dietary%20goal,%2C%20if%20any%2C%20processed%20meat. (Accessed on August 4, 2020).
  3. The truth about red meat. https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-red-meat#2 (Accessed on August 4, 2020).
  4. Is red meat bad for you, or good? An Objective Look. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-red-meat-bad-for-you-or-good (Accessed on August 4, 2020).