Let's Throw Some Red Meat Out for the Crowd

Chrissy Tiegen fries a steak

Eating more red meat does NOT hurt your heart: New study insists larger portions of beef and pork can actually be GOOD for blood pressure

Red meat has been condemned as a cancer-causing, blood pressure-raising no-no.

Indeed, nutritional guidelines in both the UK and the US advise eating no more than 70g of beef, pork, or steak per day.

Government scolds, all of them.

But a new review of clinical trials from Purdue University has found quite the opposite. According to the study, eating more than the recommended daily amount of red meat does not affect short-term heart disease risk factors, such as blood pressure and blood cholesterol.

I thought the science was settled!

In fact, they found unprocessed red meat to be a good source of nutrients for patients.

'During the last 20 years, there have been recommendations to eat less red meat as part of a healthier diet, but our research supports that red meat can be incorporated into a healthier diet,' said Wayne Campbell, professor of nutrition science.

'Red meat is a nutrient-rich food, not only as a source for protein but also bio-available iron.'

Which humans have been well aware of since our mammoth hunting days.

The recommendations to limit red meat from the diet come mainly from studies that look at the dietary habits of people with cardiovascular disease.

Although these studies showed these people typically ate red meat, they were not designed to show that red meat caused cardiovascular disease.

 As they say, correlation is not causation.

To investigate the issue further Professor Campbell, worked with doctoral student Lauren O'Connor, and postdoctoral researcher Jung Eun Kim, to conduct a review and analysis of past clinical trials.

Their aim was to detect cause and effect between eating habits and health risks.

They screened hundreds of related research articles, focusing on studies that met specific criteria including the amount of red meat consumed, evaluation of cardiovascular disease risk factors and study design.

A so-called "meta-analysis", combining the results of many studies with slightly different methods and criteria. It has it's uses, but you have to be careful. Often the trick is what studies are accepted to be part of the study.

'We found that consuming more than half a serving per day of red meat, which is equivalent to a 3 ounce serving three times per week, did not worsen blood pressure and blood total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglyceride concentrations, which are commonly screened by health-care providers,' O'Connor said.

This research includes all types of red meat, mostly unprocessed beef and pork.

This is no surprise to most people who have tried the "Atkins Diet", and have watched their HDL ("good cholesterol") rise, while keeping LDL ("bad cholesterol") stay level or drop.

Professor Campbell said more analysis is needed as the evaluation of blood pressure and cholesterol are not the sole determinants for someone to develop heart disease.

What you want more money?  But, you already gave us the answer we want!