RED MEAT : Your best source of proteins.

Meat is the flesh of animals that humans prepare and consume as food. Meat mainly refers to the muscle tissue of mammals and birds. It’s typically consumed as steak, chops, ribs, or roast.

Beef cows: Popular source of red meat.

Red meat contains a lot of an iron-rich protein known as myoglobin in its tissue than the white meat.

Examples of red meat are:

• beef

• pork

• lamb

• goat

The biggest difference between white meat and red meat is the fat content. White meat is a leaner source of protein, with a lower fat content while Red meat contains higher levels of fat, but also contains higher levels of vitamins like iron, zinc and B vitamins compared to white meat.

Vegetarians and vegans are often found to be nutritionally deficient, especially B complex vitamins and amino acids.

Apart from being considered as an excellent source of proteins, red meat is a complete protein, meaning that, it has all the nine essential amino acids. Meat is also a good source of minerals like Zinc, phosphorus and calcium. It is also an excellent source of Vitamin B-12, Niacin and Selenium.

Many studies have shown that a high protein diet that includes red meat, increases metabolic rate, reduce hunger, and promote fullness.

Protein structure: Proteins are the building blocks of muscle tissues

Red meat intake is consistently linked to increased muscle mass. This study in older women discovered that eating beef increased muscle mass and reduced markers of inflammation

Meat improve bone density and strength. Studies in older people with the highest intake of meat proved this fact by showing a decreased risk of hip fractures by 69%.

Red meat especially organs like the liver, heart and kidneys contain heme iron, which is easily absorbed in the digestive system better than non-heme iron from plants.

However, several studies have linked red meat consumption with obesity and metabolic syndromes. Public health officials, nutrition scholars and doctors for years have urged people to limit consumption of red meat because of concerns that they are linked to heart disease, cancer and other maladies.

Critics of these studies have maintained that there is little association between meat and chronic diseases. They have pointed out that these observational studies ignored the contribution of other dietary factors like consumption of carbohydrates, sedentary lifestyle and genetic predisposition.

Studies that differentiate between processed and fresh red meat have failed to find a link between unprocessed red meat consumption and heart disease. Only processed meat had an adverse risk in relation to Coronary Heart Disease

On Tuesday 1st October 2019, a new international study published in the ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE produced a series of analyses concluding that advising people to avoid red meat is a guideline not backed by credible scientific evidence.

The scientists concluded that the links between eating red meat and disease and death were small, and the quality of the evidence was low to very low.

In conclusion, always consult your nutritionist or physician if you suffer a metabolic illness before embarking on a high meat diet. You can, however, gain maximum benefit from red meat when you choose non-processed meat by avoiding processed meat. It is highly advisable to choose organic or grass-fed whenever possible.

RED ALERT: This Television feature unearthed a back end scheme by rogue supermarkets that use carcinogenic chemicals to preserve meat.