Those of you who reside in Australia would have seen the television advertisement that promotes meat eating with the slogan: “Feed the man meat”. The question we need to ask is whether this recommendation to eat more meat is a good idea in the first place? And, the question that follows next: is eating meat a healthy food choice?

Meat is often promoted as a food that is an excellent source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. This is basically correct. Meat does contain high concentrations of these nutrients.

Does it mean, however, that there are no other ways, or even better ways, of getting these nutrients? No. I don’t think it means that at all.

Does it mean that because meat has high levels of these nutrients, it is healthy and good for you? No, it does not mean anything of the sort.

There are many other sources of these nutrients in the food that we eat. Iron, for example, can be found in high concentrations in many other sources of animal proteins. Examples include: liver, eggs, salmon, tuna and oysters.

White meat also contains some iron but, admittedly, not nearly as much as red meat.

Most people immediately think of beef or lamb when considering red meat; however kangaroo meat is a much better source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12 than either lamb or beef.

Iron can also be found in many non-animal sources, such as lentils, grains, beans, soy and green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli.

Other excellent sources of iron include whole wheat bread and soy products such as tofu, as well as dried fruit.

What are the adverse health effects of red meat?

The World Cancer Research Fund released a very important report in 1997. That report said: “Diets containing substantial amounts of red meat probably increase the risk of colorectal cancer”.

The report went on to say that there is a possibility that such diets also increase the risk of other cancers, such as cancer of the pancreas, breast, prostate and kidney.

The World Cancer Research Fund released a further report in 2007. This report was even more damning of red meat. The report stated the following: “The evidence is now convincing that red meats and processed meats are a cause of bowel cancer”.

The report also recommended avoiding processed meat. It stated that there was no level of intake of processed meat that could be confidently shown not to increase risk.

What constitutes red meat?

According to the World Cancer Research Fund the following are classified as red meat: Lamb, beef, pork or goat meat.

The World Cancer Research Fund defines processed meat as: Any meat that is preserved by: salting, curing, smoking or adding chemical preservatives Examples include: ham, bacon, hot dogs and sausages.

There is even more bad news for red meat eaters who are concerned about its impact on health. Recent studies show that eating red meat increases mortality rates. The increase in mortality was mainly due to an increase in heart disease and cardiovascular risk, but cancers were not far behind.

It is important to emphasise that these problems have not been found with white meats such as chicken and fish.

How much red meat is too much?

It appears that the body can cope with small quantities of red meat, and most health authorities have not recommended that you have to give up red meat all together.

The current Australian healthy eating guidelines recommend 3-4 servings per week of red meat. But it is important to note that the size of these servings is quite small. The recommended amount is 65–100 gm, after cooking. Personally, I would recommend less.

The popular CSIRO weight loss diet recommends 200 gm portions of red meat, 4-5 times per week for dinner, and allows even more processed red meat for lunch, up to 4 times per week. I believe that these are dangerous and excessive levels of red meat intake.

Red Meat and weight loss

When considering red meat intake for a weight loss diet, it is important to take into account the energy density of the meal. Red meat has a very high energy density.

A high energy density means that there are a lot of calories in a small piece of the food concerned. For example, a 120 gm serving of red meat contains 340 Calories, or 1420 Kilojoules. That is an enormous amount of energy when you consider that the average male would easily consume a 375-500 gm steak in one sitting.

That is one reason why, in my BMI Boost Metabolism System, I highly recommend a significant decrease in the intake of red meat for anyone trying to lose weight.