TGG014: To meat or not to meat?
FOCUS OF THE WEEK: Meat
Tha Warmup
Every day, you stroll past posters for Dunkin’s new Beyond Sausage Sandwich and scroll through articles titled Meat Kills. Over time, it’s natural to begin questioning whether meal belongs in your diet at all.
For many of us, meat is emotional. We grew up praying over mom’s meatloaf and running out of the pool to eat hot dogs on the 4th of July. But the steady flow of information surrounding greenhouse gases, the suffering of animals, and the implications for human health make the costs of eating meat harder to overlook.
As it turns out, we’ve been asking ourselves the wrong question. While we’ve been busy vilifying meat, we’ve forgotten the broader, more pressing concern: the highly processed Western diet and the overconsumption that comes with it.
Tha Routine
Full transparency: I’ve been meatless for just over a year. When asked why, I tell people it’s for the health of the planet as well as my own. Let’s start with the former.
Livestock contributes to land degradation, air and water pollution, water shortages, lack of biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions. Like my lactose intolerant brother after inhaling a Chipotle burrito bowl piled with Monterey Jack cheese, cows let out a lot of farts. The not so funny part? That methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet. According to National Geographic, “There are 1.4 billion cattle in the world...Together with other grazing animals, they contribute about 40 percent of the annual methane budget.”
Ok...what about me?
If you’re some sort of monster who couldn’t give two sh*ts about future generations, fear not! I’ll focus on what you care about most: your health. Meat has long been held in contempt, which is why many who are health-conscious have cut back on it. This is called the “healthy user effect.” But as Dr. Mark Hyman, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine points out, we don’t want to know whether people who eat feedlot, industrially produced meat, who also consume a lot of refined sugars and carbs, who smoke, who don’t exercise, and who eat very few fruits and vegetables have higher rates of heart disease. We’re already well aware of the answer.
The people scientists are interested in are the grass-fed meat eaters who also exercise, eat healthy foods, don’t smoke, and live an all around healthier lifestyle -- they want to know if these people have more heart disease. In a study that looked at this exact question, overall death rates were cut in half for health-conscious meat eaters and vegetarians when compared to the average person eating a Western, highly processed diet. Let's recap: as long as those who ate meat were eating ethically-raised meat, those who maintained all-around healthier lifestyles lived longer lives.
This is so important to note because the vast majority of the studies out there claiming that meat causes cancer and diabetes are not using grass-fed, ethically-raised meat. Instead, the studies you read about typically use industrially raised meat from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that’s loaded with hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides.
Do less.
We eat way too much meat. As Mark Bittman points out in his fantastic 2007 TED Talk, between 1950 and 2000 the world’s population doubled. In that same time frame, meat consumption increased five-fold. Someone had to eat all that meat, so fast food was born. McNuggets loaded with fat and spice on every corner. Frozen microwave dinners in every home. At the same time, a huge number of women were entering the workforce and men weren’t picking up the cooking slack. Foods were becoming more addictive and convenience was, well, convenient. We started eating more meat and never thought to hit the brakes.
Eating too much protein has serious implications for your health. When people consume more protein than the amount needed for muscle synthesis (about 30 grams per serving), the body converts the excess protein to sugar in order to break it down. How much protein is the average person today consuming? Thought you’d never ask! People are eating about 75 to 90 grams each day. Look, there’s a reason I wasn’t a finance major. But even I can realize how concerning that math is. And if you’re still worried about gains or looking good, just keep in mind that Tom Brady and Kyrie Irving follow primarily plant-based diets and I think your fears will subside.
Give it to me straight.
People are overeating meat and the quality of that meat is low. As The Bulletproof Diet founder Dave Asprey says, “Do not talk to me about whether meat is good or bad until you tell me what the meat ate.” You simply can’t directly compare eating the processed meat most people are consuming two or three times a day to a moderate amount of grass-fed meat. Besides, if a significant portion of your paycheck is spent on a soy-fed, tortured, mass-produced product, then you've got a health issue and an ethics issue on your hands.
So what you’re saying is, I need to think twice about the meat I eat.
Dr. Hyman’s advice for eating meat responsibly:
1. Go for grass-fed, pasture raised, organic meat. Yes, it’s more expensive, but we need a lot less protein than we’re currently consuming. Buy better, buy less.
2. Steer clear of processed meats (i.e. deli meats), which are proven to cause diseases and illnesses.
3. Prep your meat with care. High-temperature cooking (frying, grilling, smoking, charring) creates toxic compounds that you don’t want entering your body. This goes for fish and veggies, too. Opt for lower-temp methods like baking, stewing, roasting, and poaching.
4. #PlantPower. No matter what - whether you’re vegan or paleo or pescatarian or just love talking about CrossFit - aim for a plate that’s 75% colorful, non-starchy vegetables. We know plants are good for you. Load up on em, and treat meat like a condiment.
I get that meat is part of our memories, our culture, and even our identity. But we have a serious issue of meat overproduction and overconsumption that can no longer be ignored. For the next week, I challenge you to swap out meat for one meal each day, and to make sure the meat you do eat was treated well.