Is meat healthy?
Let’s finally answer the eternal yes-or-no debate about whether meat is actually good for humans. The science desk at NRC investigated it.
Let’s start with the good news: eating meat once in a while is certainly not unhealthy. It is rich in protein and vitamin B. Of course, not eating it is much kinder to animals, but we understand if you sometimes find it difficult to give it up. There is a limit, though—but exactly where is it?
Meat diet
At NRC, they tried a meat diet for a day. Breakfast: 240 grams of beef steak, lunch: 210 grams of leg of lamb, and dinner: 350 grams of pork fillet. Cooked, seasoned and in fat. This was the only thing they ate that day.
De Eetmeter
Using the computer program De Eetmeter, they kept track of which nutrients they had consumed that day. De Eetmeter advised them to continue eating a varied diet. They had consumed far too much protein—no less than sixty percent, whereas normally it is around twenty-five percent.
Plant-based
In a sustainable eating pattern, more than half of your protein should come from plant-based sources, not animal protein. That day, it was the other way around. This more or less answers the question already: eating too much meat is not good for you, and certainly not sustainable.
Too little
De Eetmeter also revealed that they had consumed too few carbohydrates, too little salt and too little fibre. Their mineral and B-vitamin intake was fine. Vitamins A, C and D were also too low.
Lean meat
Once and for all: eating too much meat is unhealthy. Every now and then is fine. But how much? The well-known Wheel of Five does include lean meat. In other words: you may eat lean meat every day. Just skip the sausages and other fatty meats—once a week is more than enough.
Read the full article by NRC here.
