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In recent years, animal protein, and specifically lean meat, has not enjoyed much good publicity. More and more studies are advocating reduce overall meat consumption, especially when it comes to red meat, replacing it with either poultry meat (white meat, without confusing it with pork, as some have done), or directly with protein-rich vegetable alternatives, such as case of legumes, or even the novel fungal protein.
In general, the latest work suggests that vegetable protein is healthier and environmentally more sustainable than animal protein, something that would entail reducing meat consumption in general. However, that does not mean that eating lean meat is harmful. At least, as suggested by a new job by the Indiana University-Bloomington School of Public Health: consuming lean meat, inside a healthy diet, does not harm cardiovascular health.
And it is that, according to this new study, the consumption of lean meat does not have to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, as other previous works have stated. In short, lean meat, as long as it is consumed within a generally healthy diet, does not negatively affect itself.
To demonstrate this, the researchers, led by Professor of Applied Health Sciences Kevin C. Maki, conducted a study with 33 individuals (26 women and 7 men) at risk of long-term type 2 diabetes. All of them followed a healthy diet, according to the 2015 United States Dietary Guidelines. In this case, the only difference was lean meat (beef, specifically).
In this case, the study compared American-style healthy eating patterns, where the average of red meat consumed is usually around 35 grams a day, with a similar eating pattern where up to 150 g of beef was added per day.
Participants completed a randomized crossover clinical trialthat is, all of them were randomly assigned to one of the groups to follow an eating pattern for 4 weeks. Subsequently, they performed a 2-week washout period (performing a free diet on their own), and then returned to a controlled diet for another 4 weeks. At the end of the study, all participants had carried out both types of diets during the study.
During one of the periods, one of the groups consumed a regular healthy diet, while the other added 150 grams of beef per day, in exchange for reducing refined carbohydrates. Apart from this modification, the participants’ diet was very similar. And, later, after the washing period, the participants followed the other type of diet.
According to Maki, in the most cardiometabolic health indicators, such as insulin sensitivity or LDL cholesterol or “bad cholesterol” levels, there was no difference between the diets. The only significant difference, he points out, is that there was a higher percentage of larger and less dense LDL cholesterol; This finding is important, he explains, since larger, less dense LDL particles are less likely to promote arteriosclerosis.
Furthermore, on the other hand, Maki and his colleagues emphasize the fact that red meat, by itself, does not have to be harmful as long as it is consumed within a general healthy pattern. In fact, meat is a nutrient dense food such as the mentioned animal proteins, iron or zinc. However, there are not a few studies that have linked it to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
In this work, paradoxically, they have not found such a relationship. But, as the researchers well emphasize, there is a key point to keep in mind: although the intake of red meat was increased, it was also replaced by refined carbohydrates. Even so, the same authors maintain that the objective of their research is not to encourage the consumption of red meat, but rather to demonstrate that it is not responsible for certain damages to health.
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