Meat fared well in several venues recently.
A study out of Japan followed the dietary and health history of over 23,000 women for about 17 years. If they eat mostly vegetarian (tofu, veggies or dairy based), there was no increased risk of breast cancer. But the women following a meat-based diet, including deep fried meat--ugh, had a markedly lowered rate of premenopausal breast cancer. I'm going to have to wonder if the extra estrogenic effects of tofu and inorganic dairy proved to be hazardous for the health of their breasts.
A wonderful video talk by the esteemed cardiologist, Dr. Salim Yusuf, explored several themes. The benefit of dietary fat as opposed to the detriment of dietary carbohydrate will not surprise any regular reader. He also covers the "sweet spot" of salt. While processed foods can include up to 10 grams a day of sodium, populations and individuals who eat real food and salt to taste typically eat salt at about 5 grams a day rate. He shares data showing that lowering salt below that threshhold, following US heart health guidelines, actually is hazardous to your health. Salt your food.
He also hypothesizes that it is of particular important when speaking to the multitudes living at the poverty level, it is important to note that vegetables offer little, maybe no, great benefit to your heart's health. They would be well-advised to buy meat and eggs, enjoy the fat, skip the processed carbs, and have a piece of fruit!
A new study out of Australia, where importantly: the meat is mostly grass-fed, showed that women who decreased their intake of red meat had almost double the incidence of depression and anxiety as women who continued to eat red meat, at least three-four times a week. The study checked for confounding factors such as income, other sources of protein, and activity levels, and found that the correlation between red meat and a happier mind persisted.
Eat the meat!
