Just How GOOD Is Meat?

Meat gets a bad rap, even from me. My very first blog entry was about the controversy around meat and meat production. Basically, the knock on meat is:

1. It costs too much to produce, including the grains diverted from human consumption to fatten up cattle especially for that marbled, grain-fed texture and taste.

2. It costs too much to transport. Cows are heavy, and it takes a lot of fuel to move them to slaughter and then ship the meat to market. The days of the local meat market are almost gone except for specialty cuts and the like; the regional stockyard and meatpacking plants are a thing of the past.

3. It's bad for you. Studies of Asians who immigrate to the U.S. have shown a sharp increase in cancers and heart disease, usually as a result of eating more meat. Cholesterol goes up, heart attacks increase, all with a fairly direct link to meat.

But there is another school of thought (probably financed secretly by the meat industry) that says eating meat has health benefits.

That's right, eating meat might just be good for you.

Meat contains many important nutrients, including compounds like taurine, L-carnitine, creatine, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and endogenous antioxidants, according to Dr. Yeonhwa Park at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a non-profit scientific group. Dr. Park says meat contains other important nutrients like iron and zinc that are hard to find or lacking in the average diet, as well as vitamin B-12.

The key may be adding probiotics, fiber or omega-3 fatty acids may help improve meat's functionality as a food. Breeding and changing meat types could reduce cholesterol levels, one of the drivers in the rise of grass-fed beef. The "tough" stringiness of free range beef and its much-higher price have both limited the appeal of the concept with retailers and consumers so far. Probiotics added to fermented meats like sausage could offset the health concerns about nitrosamines, though there's skepticism it could fully counter those potential ills. In addition, the probiotic strains chosen would have to be able to overcome the salts used in their preparation.

Omega-3 enriched meats could help offset the pressure on wild salmon stocks and the environmental concerns about fish farms and allegations such farms are encouraging the growth of disease and parasites in the wild varieties.

So what does all this mean for our health? Stay tuned.

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