Diets that replace red meat with plant proteins lead to a decrease in risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a recent meta – analysis from the Chan School of Public Health and Purdue University that included data from 36 randomized controlled trials with 1,803 participants .
This is the first meta-analysis to examine the health effects of red meat by substituting it for other specific types of foods, but there seems to be a lot of evidence to say that if we reduce our consumption of red meat, our health is likely to improve and, by extension, it may even improve the planet’s.
Red and white meats
In raw, we identify red meat as that which presents this color, which is due to the high concentration of myoglobin, since it usually exceeds 1% while in white meat it does not reach 0.5%. There are also those who describe red meat as that derived from mammals.
White meats , on the other hand, have a pink or whitish color when raw due to the fact that they have very low proportions of myoglobin in their interior. White meat is often considered to be derived from poultry, fish being excluded from this group as well, but rabbits are often included in this category.
The researchers compared people who ate diets with red meat to people who ate more of other types of food (i.e., chicken, fish, carbohydrates, or plant proteins such as legumes, soybeans, or nuts), looking at concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides in the blood, lipoproteins and blood pressure, all CVD risk factors .
Alberto Garzón, Minister of Consumption, suggested in a video that we should consume less meat : "14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock, especially macro-farms, while for us to have 1 kilo of meat of cow requires 15,000 liters of water ". To what extent should we give a letter of nature to these recommendations typical of libertarian paternalism?
Eat red meat? Not eating red meat? Can the government recommend or suggest? Can it penalize, regulate or prohibit? Is there the freedom to eat a steak? Beyond the politicization of the matter, draw your own conclusions :