Secret to living healthy is eating less meat
Yes, it’s time to cut back on those hamburgers.
Meat is an important part of a balanced diet, there is no denying that; in fact some nutrients and our body’s protein requirement often demands that we incorporate it in the diet. But that said, what one needs to be super careful about is - overload.
Eating meat may be good for us, but too much of this good food can be bad. So be careful.
The first reason is that in spite of the fact that meats taste chewy, they (fish, chicken, lamb…) deliver almost nil fibre. And fibre is absolutely essential for good gut health, prevention of constipation and also to help keep our cholesterol numbers and blood sugar tamed.
Basically too many meat-based meals push out vegetables and pulses from our diet, leading to a huge fibre deficit. Plus research has also shown clearly that the faster the food travels from the gut (gets digested and moves out), less are the harmful byproducts formed and the longer it stays - like meats do - higher is the gut mess.
Secondly, meats are protein heavy, and eating more protein than what our body needs is a bad idea as that can seriously mess up our kidneys (produces too much nitrogen waste which stresses the kidneys), and also lead to weight gain, extra body fat, dehydration, and leaching of important bone minerals like calcium.
Then there is the new buzz word in health circles these days: sirutins. These are proteins formed in the body that help curb inflammation, boost metabolism, cut fat and prevent aging.
While some foods like coffee, chocolates, green tea and wine help boost these miracle components in our body, research shows that glycotoxins suppress sirtuin activity. And the biggest dietary sources of glycotoxins are chicken, beef, pork and fish, particularly if grilled or fried.
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| Too much of meat can lead to a huge fibre deficit. (Photo credit: India Today) |
And a lot of research now seems to be suggesting that these contribute heavily towards the much greater (some say even three times higher) risk of dementia found among meat eaters as compared to vegetarians. Plus, they have been implicated in higher type 2 diabetes risk too.
Cutting back on animal products also helps keep a lid on the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat one is consuming. While new thinking is that neither is bad for our health, too much of both will definitely lead to clogging up of arteries, and also the pores of the skin. And no one wants that. Right!
Plus red meat also delivers too much carnitine, which in extra doses is known to clog up our arteries big time.
The first to chop off from your diets are the overly processed meats (like ham, salami, bacon, etc) as they are the most dangerous. While the cause is not completely clear, it could be the preparation that is at fault (charring meat increases toxins (nitrosamines) that can lead to cancer).
While primarily vegetarian diets tend to be low in iron, too much non-vegetarian food it seems might just do the opposite. A less known fact is that meat delivers a whole lot of iron which, when eaten in excess, can raise levels of iron in the brain, which can destroy myelin - a fatty tissue that coats nerve fibers and may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. While this is still being studied in detail, the outcome sounds scary already.
So the ground rule is, eat non-veg but incorporate it in a "mainly" plant based diet - not the other way round. A 70:30 veg:non-veg ratio sounds good, actually!