Is Beef Good for You?
Whether we should eat Beef or not eat beef is the question that has been the subject of debate for decades. Some people say that beef is good for people and there are others who say it causes health issues. In reading many articles, there is a lot of misleading information out there about beef. Kerri Ann Jennings states that red meat is “Praised by Paleo Diet advocates and shunned by vegetarians, red meat certainly is a controversial food. And that controversy extends into the research world, where red meat and its impact on our health has been the subject of numerous studies…with conflicting results”. This just really means people have to decide for themselves if they want to consume beef. People should choose to
…show more content…
Grass fed beef has higher omega 3 fats, which is really good for people’s bodies. Omegas have many benefits but one is that they lower triglycerides levels which can lower the chance of heart disease. Even though beef is high in omega 3’s people still argue that it still has saturated fat which isn’t good for the body. This is because saturated fats causes heart disease. This is the reason some doctors advise their patients to eat white meat such as chicken breast because its leaner and has less saturated fat. It turns out in recent studies that health professionals found out that saturated fat has no link to heart disease. In the “American Journal Clinical Nutritional journal” the study indicates, “A meta- analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD”.” The second argument people say why red meat is not good is because red meat can cause colon cancer. Although in recent research it shows that the increase risk of colorectal cancer by eating more red meat is actually low. In the “Red meat and colorectal cancer: a critical summary of prospective epidemiologic studies” the study said “Collinearity between red meat intake and other dietary factors and behavioral factors limit the ability to analytically isolate the the independent effects of red meat consumption.” (Alexander, Cushing) This means that we can not solely blame beef, which is red meat for colon cancer because too many factors play a role in causing colon cancer. There is not a significant amount of evidence that proves red meat causes colon
I will first show the lack of validity and soundness to Howard’s claim that A) a vegan lifestyle is a healthier choice and B) his claim that one must switch to that lifestyle to enjoy these said benefits. To the claim made in A, Howard uses his own health problems he endured on his meat diet, and uses it as a constant variable comparing it to his now relative healthy lifestyle as a vegan. On first glance anyone who eats a calorie-laden, unbalanced diet and ends up weighing 300 pounds, as Lyman himself admitted, will have health problems regardless of his orientation to meat or vegetables. With this said his comparing analogy is inertly flawed and must be disregarded from the argument he presents. On march 8 before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Mary K Young, MS.,R.D,NCBA Director of Nutrition Research and Information, presented the benefits of eating meat. Using Data from the 1995 USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSI) she confirms that red meat enhances one overall diet quality. Young goes on to point out that red meat is the number one source for protein, B12, and zinc, number 2 source for B6 and third greatest source for iron, niacin and potassium. She also pointed out that red meat alone has the greatest concentrates of iron and zinc together. Also included cited in Young’s report was the research recently published in the Journal of the American...
In today's society, organic food is a giant new thing in which food is produced without any chemicals. In other words, the product must be 100 percent natural. A major food source of the American people is meat, and the way that it is produced today is a major issue. In feedlots, where cattle are fed grain to grow before being slaughtered, the conditions are terrible and horrifying. Cattle are confined to a limited amount of space and not allowed to roam freely. Also in these cattle growing yards, the risk of disease is much higher in these animals than out on the open range grazing on the grass. Beef critics say that there are no cattle breeds that posses the amounts of marbling present to make a good steak. It is a true statement to say that these critics are very indeed wrong. Also, Many people also do not know that that the meat from cattle that are fed grain, is high in fat content and has too much marbling. Grass-fed beef is much leaner than grain-fed beef, has less fats, and is produced all naturally. Therefore, grass-fed beef is much healthier and safer to eat than grain-fed beef.
Every beef cattle produced is injected with steroids. With the injection of steroids it makes the cow grow at an alarming rate, and helps turn food into muscle at a quicker rate. But this is the obvious information. What are they putting into both dairy cattle and beef cattle that could cause harm to us? There is a harmful hormone called IGF. Now, this hormone is not directly put into the cattle. But, all cattle are given rBGH (to put simply it helps them produce more milk/meat). But, rBGH is directly linked to IGF, a hormone that mimics the effects of the growth of human hormones in dangerous ways. It is said that cattle containing rBGH produce 10 times to IGF than cattle without rBGH. “In a 2004 study, patients with above-average IGF levels had nearly a 50% higher risk of prostate cancer and a 65% higher risk of hormone-dependent premenopausal breast cancer than people with below-average levels.” says Carina Storrs of Health.com. Also, a lot of cattle are dosed with high amounts of antibiotics, like penicillin. It is said that a lot of the antibiotics that humans use become ineffective from being exposed to antibiotic resistant bacteria from eating beef! These are just a few of MANY drugs put into cattle. Do you see how consuming high amounts of beef could be harmful to
The people they used for the big stories in this film had some sort of health issues already. They picked from ones that had high risks for heart disease or type two diabetes. They didn’t use people who aren’t at a high risk and don’t need to switch their diet. They failed at showing a direct link between how someone’s health is increased from eliminating meat. It only used people whose diets were full of junk food, not just meat. HB (1991), “Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of nutrition in their long-term health prospects. With this increased awareness, however, has come an abundance of misconceptions including the notion that meat is "bad" for you. In their haste to avoid saturated fat, physicians and the public alike have lost sight of the fact that lean meat in reasonable serving sizes poses no threat to health and is an extremely important source of many nutrients.” We heard plenty of stories of people who were on the verge of getting a heart disease, or had even had a heart attack or two. No one they used was on a normal diet who ate meat. Forks Over Knives (2011), “On my way over I drank these two red bulls, I also had a twelve-ounce coke and another half of a twelve-ounce coke. I haven’t always lived the healthiest life style, and I’ve eaten more than my share of fast food.” But one thing that stood out to me was the people they showed the results
They've studied about 53.000 participants. Among these participants were about 17.000 vegetarians. They've studied the data of all these participants and something interesting became clear: People that were not consuming meat during their lifetime had fewer cancers on average than people who were consuming meat. There was also a remarkable result. Colon cancer is a type of cancer associated with consuming of red meat. However it became clear from the study that vegetarians had more colon cancer than other participants. Although the results are interesting, it's not completely new. It is already well known that people can reduce the cancer if they regularly eat fruit and vegetables. If you stick to this then it is said that you can decrease the risk of getting cancer. The new element of this study however is the fact that it concentrates on full vegetarians. The study doesn't only focus on meat eaters that eat fruit and vegetables occasionally. This gives a better view on the effect of meat by itself on the development of cancer. The researchers studied the participants from the age of 20 to 89. These people were organized into 4 groups. There were of course the meat-eaters. Also people who ate fish got their own group. The remaining groups were the vegetarians and the extreme vegetarians. Extreme vegetarians are also called vegans. What the difference is between vegetarians and vegans is that vegans are very strict. Vegetarians just avoid meat and such things. Vegans avoid every ingredient that is related to animals. Vegans don't even want to wear clothes that were made of animals. So vegans go much further than a 'normal vegetarian' The group of people who ate fish and the vegetarians showed fewer cancers than meat eaters. So it's not only vegetarians that show better results. The people who eat fish also
Roughly over 20% of 121,000 middle-aged men and women died over a period of 28 years during a study of red meat effects on the body (Harding). Beef, pork, lamb, mutton, and veal are all red meats. While these meats are rich in vitamins and protein, they can lose much of their benefits through cooking and processing. Limiting how much red meat an individual eats could add years to their life by avoiding heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. By simply replacing one meal weekly, that consists of red meat, for a meal that is poultry, fish, nuts, or vegetable based could reduce the risk of dying in middle aged years by 7 to 9% (Harding).
Today’s medical experts say that avoiding meat helps you avoid saturated fat. They have found out from studies that women who eat meat daily have a fifty percent greater risk of developing heart disease than vegetarian women and a sixty-eight percent greater risk in men (staff writer). People may not know about serious diseases meat can cause such as, mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. In the September 1999 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases, approximately 76 million food-borne illnesses- resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths occur in the United States each year from improperly cooked or diseased meat (Licher). That is a lot of fun!
Wyness, L, et al. “Red meat in the diet: an update” British Nutrition Foundation: Nutrition Bulletin 36.1 (2011): 39-71. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Ground beef's saturated fat can contribute to heart disease, and the bacteria it sometimes harbors can sicken or kill someone who eats beef that is not cooked thoroughly.” With this information available to Americans daily, we still do consume the ground beef and even have the nerve to tell ourselves and our friends that we plan to cut back on it any day now.
Meat is a coroner stone to the majority of American’s diets. I would venture to say the majority of American’s eat meat for their three meals a day. Eating meat isn’t all bad, it actually brings a good source of protein to one’s diet, in a moderate amount. In 2012 a study was done and found that the U.S. total meat consumption was 52.1 billion pounds. That comes out to be 270.7 pounds per person. We still eat more meat than just about any other country, besides Luxembourg (A Nation of Meat Eaters). Eating red meat is bad for humans because of the negative health effects, the environmental issues it causes, and the inhumane treatment of the animals.
People love to eat meat. For over two million years, humans have relied on eating meat in order to survive or simply just because they enjoy the taste. Early humans had more powerful jaws and larger teeth and relied on meat as one of their main sources of food. As evolution took place and humans evolved, they developed smaller teeth and were only able to eat the meat if it was cooked. With humans evolving and being able to survive on foods other than meat, meat does not have to necessarily be a part of human diet anymore. Although many people have opted for a vegetarian lifestyle, most people still continue to eat meat and do not consider it a cruel act. Many have also stopped eating meat due health risks and environmental concern. Whether
Alexander, D. D. (2010). A review and meta-analysis of prospective studies of red and processed meat intake and prostate cancer. Nutrition Journal, 50.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be
In today’s fast-paced, modern and practical society people are becoming more health conscious. This includes trying to choose the best available options for a beneficial lifestyle. Exotic Greek salads, fresh fruit juices, delicate tofu preparation, smelly grilled vegetables, creamy grains soups, moisten carve soufflés, and so much more are common elections for meals for many people. They are becoming more concerned these days about the increasing health risks of a meat-based diet. On the other hand, others have taken a step further and believed that animal cruelty involved in killing animals and using them for their products is inhumane and should be outlawed. Since meat-eating has been an accepted part of the human diet across the spectrum of many civilizations for millions of years, a controversy emerges between those who want to be banned the use of animal products and those who enjoy a steak now and then. Should people consider becoming a vegan?