Consuming lean, unprocessed red meat or steak can benefit body composition (i.e., weight loss and fat loss) while not adversely affecting cardiovascular functions. The topic of red meat consumption is highly controversial; this study suggests that lean, unprocessed red meat can be used while dieting
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU EAT RED MEAT? SUMMARY
- How often should you eat red meat is a topic on controversy for athletes and health care providers. However, there was no difference in weight loss or fat loss between the low and high lean meat consumption groups while dieting.
- There was no difference in cardiovascular disease or inflammation markers between low and high unprocessed lean meat.
Introduction
We have all heard, If you want to be healthy, you should cut back on red meat and eat more chicken and fish. Red meat has gotten a bad rap for being unhealthy for decades. Large-scale studies have found that red meat consumption is associated with obesity, diabetes, and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. (Lee et al., 2013; Micha et al., 2010; Rouhani et al., 2014; Zhong et al., 2020) As with any study, these studies must be looked at with caution. These studies did not differentiate between meat eaters and non-meat eaters, higher versus lower fat meats, or between processed (e.g., processed meats are preserved by smoking or salting, curing, or adding chemical preservatives. They include deli meats, bacon, and hot dogs) and nonprocessed meats (e.g., fresh chicken, steak, beef, and pork).
IS RED MEAT INFLAMMATORY?
There are many myths regarding meat consumption, such as the red meat cholesterol myth, which states that red meat will lead to an early grave [there is little research to suggest that red meat leads to an increased risk of cancer and heart disease (Zeraatkar et al., 2019)] Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol are essential for health. They don’t increase the risk of developing heart disease. (Zeraatkar et al., 2019) Another crazy thing you will hear is that red meat stays in your digestive system for decades.
IS IT BAD TO EAT STEAK EVERY DAY?
Previous studies have found that unprocessed red meat with portion sizes from 15 grams to 150 grams per day can be used as part of a healthy diet without adverse effects of weight gain or increases in cardiovascular risk factors. (Fleming et al., 2021; Hill et al., 2015; O’Connor et al., 2018; Sayer et al., 2017) There is nothing wrong with a heart healthy steak. A new study took the previous research and examined daily red meat responses in conjunction with a diet to examine the physiological responses of daily red meat consumption.
CAN YOU EAT LEAN STEAK EVERY DAY OR RED MEAT WHILE DIETING?
The study investigated a very low-calorie diet (i.e., 600 calories per day) for 8 weeks, followed by a 1-week re-introduction to regular foods and a 12-week maintenance phase. During the maintenance phase, subjects were allowed to eat whatever they wanted (i.e., no food restriction).
During the low-calorie diet phase, researchers compared an unprocessed low-beef (25 g/day; slightly below 1 oz, ~15 of their total daily calories) or an unprocessed high-beef (150 g/day; 5.4 oz, ~25 of their total daily calories) on body weight, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk factors. The subjects consumed fresh minced beef of Danish origin with a fat content of 8–12% by weight (i.e., mostly lean). Subjects were instructed to meet the target protein intake by consuming dairy, fish, eggs, and plant-based protein sources, but no extra meat. Both diet groups were advised on healthy eating habits, including fiber, whole grains, and avoiding added sugars.
DID EATING LEAN STEAK EVERY DAY /UNPROCESSED MEATS MAKE PEOPLE UNHEALTHY?
At the end of the 8-week diet, both groups lost weight, and there was no difference between the low and high unprocessed meat consumption groups. There was no difference in cardiovascular risk factors between the groups either. No differences in blood pressure, glucose, insulin, blood lipids, and inflammatory markers. Whether the subjects ate a small amount or a larger amount of unprocessed red meat had similar outcomes in losing weight.
Red Meat Can Be Part of a Healthy Diet
Thus, eating lean red meat can be done daily while on a diet with favorable health outcomes. Interestingly, when the subjects increased their calories to maintain weight, their body weight decreased during this period, exclusively due to fat mass loss. In contrast, lean mass increased, although some of this was probably due to glycogen replenishment which increased from carbohydrates. Fleming et al. (24) evaluated Mediterranean-like diets with 14, 71, or 156 g lean beef/2000 kcal/d against a control diet while maintaining total protein content (17–20% of all calories). They found that all 3 experimental diets decreased LDL cholesterol and apoB but did not affect HDL cholesterol, apoA-1, and triglyceride concentrations. (Fleming et al., 2021)
The beef used in this study was very low in fat, similar to if you would use lean ground turkey or lean ground meat found in supermarkets. This study has similar results to a large cohort study of 134,297 subjects from 21 different countries, which found that unprocessed meat had no impact on all-cause mortality or cardiovascular disease. Still, processed meat positively correlated with heart disease and death. (Iqbal et al., 2021)In sum, it seems that consuming lean, unprocessed red meat or steak can benefit body composition (i.e., weight loss and fat loss) while not adversely affecting cardiovascular functions. The topic of red meat consumption is highly controversial; this study suggests that lean, unprocessed red meat can be used while dieting.
As commonly suggested, you don’t have to eat chicken to lose fat. Studies have found no difference in fat loss or weight loss consuming beef vs chicken when following a calorie-controlled diet. (Melanson et al., 2003) As the study above found, you can eat steak every day or lean beef and still lose fat.
REFERENCES
Fleming, J. A., Kris-Etherton, P. M., Petersen, K. S., & Baer, D. J. (2021). Effect of varying quantities of lean beef as part of a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern on lipids and lipoproteins: a randomized crossover controlled feeding trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 113(5), 1126-1136. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa375
Hill, A. M., Harris Jackson, K. A., Roussell, M. A., West, S. G., & Kris-Etherton, P. M. (2015). Type and amount of dietary protein in the treatment of metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 102(4), 757-770. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.104026
Iqbal, R., Dehghan, M., Mente, A., Rangarajan, S., Wielgosz, A., Avezum, A., Seron, P., AlHabib, K. F., Lopez-Jaramillo, P., Swaminathan, S., Mohammadifard, N., Zatońska, K., Bo, H., Varma, R. P., Rahman, O., Yusufali, A., Lu, Y., Ismail, N., Rosengren, A., . . . Yusuf, S. (2021). Associations of unprocessed and processed meat intake with mortality and cardiovascular disease in 21 countries [Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study]: a prospective cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr, 114(3), 1049-1058. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa448
Lee, J. E., McLerran, D. F., Rolland, B., Chen, Y., Grant, E. J., Vedanthan, R., Inoue, M., Tsugane, S., Gao, Y. T., Tsuji, I., Kakizaki, M., Ahsan, H., Ahn, Y. O., Pan, W. H., Ozasa, K., Yoo, K. Y., Sasazuki, S., Yang, G., Watanabe, T., . . . Sinha, R. (2013). Meat intake and cause-specific mortality: a pooled analysis of Asian prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr, 98(4), 1032-1041. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.062638
REFERENCES
Melanson, K., Gootman, J., Myrdal, A., Kline, G., & Rippe, J. M. (2003). Weight loss and total lipid profile changes in overweight women consuming beef or chicken as the primary protein source. Nutrition, 19(5), 409-414. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0899-9007(02)01080-8
Micha, R., Wallace, S. K., & Mozaffarian, D. (2010). Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Circulation, 121(21), 2271-2283. https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.109.924977
O’Connor, L. E., Paddon-Jones, D., Wright, A. J., & Campbell, W. W. (2018). A Mediterranean-style eating pattern with lean, unprocessed red meat has cardiometabolic benefits for adults who are overweight or obese in a randomized, crossover, controlled feeding trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 108(1), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy075
Rouhani, M. H., Salehi-Abargouei, A., Surkan, P. J., & Azadbakht, L. (2014). Is there a relationship between red or processed meat intake and obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Obes Rev, 15(9), 740-748. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12172
Sayer, R. D., Speaker, K. J., Pan, Z., Peters, J. C., Wyatt, H. R., & Hill, J. O. (2017). Equivalent reductions in body weight during the Beef WISE Study: beef’s role in weight improvement, satisfaction and energy. Obesity science & practice, 3(3), 298-310. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.118
REFERENCES
Zeraatkar, D., (2019). Effect of Lower Versus Higher Red Meat Intake on Cardiometabolic and Cancer Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials. Ann Intern Med, 171(10), 721-731. https://doi.org/10.7326/m19-0622
Zhong, V. W. (2020). Associations of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality. JAMA Intern Med, 180(4), 503-512. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.6969
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