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.

Successful weight loss is not just about calories. Nor is it just about focusing on healthy foods and exercise. There is often a significant emotional basis to losing weight and keeping it off.

There are many people who have read all the weight loss books and believe that they have all the knowledge they need to lose weight, but all that knowledge just never seems to be quite enough to get them to succeed at losing weight. They seem to be lacking some vital ingredient to keep them on track and focused.

The truth of the matter is that in order to lose weight effectively and successfully, you need certain mental and emotional resources to help you stay focused, optimistic and committed. Although it is likely that you have the potential to do this, the potential is often buried somewhere deep inside and most people need help to bring this potential out.

Now there is a way you can do just that.

If you are looking for some guidance and help to deal with emotional eating or binge eating, the Body Metabolism Institute has created 3 powerful audio CDs, with accompanying books and worksheets to help you succeed with preventing emotional eating and putting a stop to binge eating.

If you are a BMI Member you already have access to these modules.

We are all familiar with our own coping strategies – they are the techniques we use to get us through whenever we are under stress or just having emotional problems and not coping very well.
Unfortunately, the strategies that we use are often the wrong strategies; they can be ineffective strategies or, worse still, totally inappropriate strategies.

When the strategies we use don’t work or end up causing a bad outcome, doctors call these "maladaptive strategies". This means that we have adapted to a situation, but the adaptation is causing more trouble and was therefore a poor choice.

At these times we need to change or modify the strategies we are using. An excellent way to do this is to highlight the trigger points that motivate you best, write them down and review them on a regular basis. If you keep returning to them, you will often find something new and powerful enough to trigger a change in your attitude.

Here is a useful fact to remember:

It takes 3 weeks to break a habit
It takes 3 months to establish a new one
So persevere. Do not be discouraged.

I hope you are enjoying and getting benefit from this newsletter. If you are looking for more in depth information you can get it by becoming a member of the BMI Boost Insider’s Club.

In the meantime, if you have any special topics you would like me to cover in future newsletters, please contact me at: info@bmiweight.com.au

Best Wishes for Your Continued Success

Dr Leon