It’s summer and time to fire up the grill and cook those juicy burgers or a good steak. But, be sure to share that grill space with a healthier white meat like poultry and chicken.
We have often heard red meat isn’t healthy, but you do not need to stop consuming those burgers or steaks. What you do need to do is eat them less frequently and increase your white meat consumption. We now have some evidence that supports this theory.
Researchers have studied 536,000 men and women ages 50 to 71 and tracked their health for 16 years. “They recorded intake of total meat, processed and unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb and pork), and white meat (poultry and fish)”
They compared the one-fifth that ate the most red meat against the one-fifth that ate the least. The high red meat consumers had a “26 percent increased risk of death from cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, infectious kidney disease and liver disease” (Study from BMJ)
Those who consumed the highest proportion of white meat had a “25 percent reduced risk of dying from various causes compared with those who ate the least white meat”.
You don’t need to stop eating red meat, just adjust the frequency. Eat more white meat and fish and statistically you’ll live longer and have a greater chance of avoiding crippling, life ending diseases before it’s your time.
(NYT May 15, 2017)