Is red meat really that unhealthy?

Hi Craig,

Congratulations, you're fighting the right corner.

The question of the potential health risks of red meat have been VERY thoroughly studied by scientists and statisticians from the Harvard School of Public Health.

They evaluated the 20 best-designed studies on this topic and this was a massive review that looked at over one million people from ten countries and when all of this data was carefully combined and evaluated, the results showed that red meat did NOT increase the risk of disease. However, processed meats like bacon and sausages did increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes significantly.

So as long as you use unprocessed meats, your risk of disease will be no higher than your vegetarian friends'. Also, other things being equal, you'll have bigger, stronger muscles, recover better, have stronger bones (if you get adequate calcium), better immunity, decreased appetite, increased metabolic rate and have lower body fat.

Mark,

Can you provide a link to the research review paper (at least the full citation), so I can read it? Also, are you saying that red meat in and of it self will provide all the benefits you listed in your last paragraph above?

Hi Tim

Go to my MuscleDiet.net blog and put "red meat" in the search box and it gives the reference for the study.
No, I'm saying versus a vegetarian diet, a diet that includes meat, fish, chicken etc will have the above-stated benefits!