"Who eats chips as a side to their lentil pattie?” asks Melanie McGrice in a quotation by Sarah Berry in her article "Plant protein is better for you than meat protein, new study finds" (2016), which reports on recent research published in the American Medical Association's journal Internal Medicine (Song, et al., 2016). As Song et al. say, it matters not only how much protein we consume but the source of that protein, with higher amounts of animal protein correlating with higher health risks in the large study by the authors, and increased protein from vegetable sources correlating with lower risks of death. In "Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality," the authors suggest that the correlation is caused by the presence of other lifestyle factors that typically go with our eating habits, such as McGrice's idea that less healthy chips are normally eaten with steak by people who exercise less than those who are likely to eat lentil patties.
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My Yes/No question is:
Do we need meat?
My answer is:
No, we don't, but it's very tasty and not unhealthy in moderate amounts.
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| All very healthy, I'm sure. |
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| Mmm ... lamb shank |
The example of vegetarian friends, most of whom do consume eggs and dairy products, confirms the scientific findings that human beings do not need to eat meat for good health, and as Berry's report based on the research by Song and his group of experts shows, there is solid evidence that many of us eat too much meat and would be healthier switching to more vegetables.
But meat does taste better. And it sometimes annoys me when I go out with vegetarian friends that their dietary choices limit the choices of where we can eat because not all restaurants offer vegetarian dishes. Fortunately, Dean & Deluca do. I haven't tried it, but apparently their super veggie burger is pretty good. I do like the French fries with truffles, but I tend to have them as a side dish with lamb shank or something with wagyu beef.
And now I'm thinking that it's about time I did something for my lunch today. Friday ... the duck lady will now be selling her excellent high-protein killed-animal product in the market about a three minute walk away, but I haven't been to Dean & Deluca for two weeks, and it's only an eight minute walk away. As I've lamented in an earlier blog post, none of the restaurants or stalls around my home are offering tasty elephant meat, so that's not on today's menu of lunch options.
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References
Berry, S. (2016, August 5). Plant protein is better for you than meat protein, new study finds. The Juice Daily. Retrieved from http://www.juicedaily.com.au/food/plant-protein-is-better-for-you-than-meat-protein-new-study-finds/
Song, M., Fung, T. T., Hu, F. B., Willett, W. C., Longo, V. D., Chan, A. T., & Giovannucci, E. L. (2016). Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Internal Medicine. Advance online publication August 1, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4182
This post makes me think about Chinese Vegetarian festival which people voluntary eat no meat and eggs for almost ten days. Most of my friends join in this activity too. Some said that this is a festival that they can do something good. Others said this is the best way to be on diet due to low-calorie meal. However, as I noticed after this festival almost all of them go to shabu buffet restaurant to redeem that past 10 days that they cannot eat meat. Even we know plant protein is a healthier version of food, we still need meat.
ReplyDeleteI usually can't go without meat. I grew up with a poultry farm and I love eating Peking roast duck and deep-fried chicken. When I go to England, I never miss the tasty and delicious roast ducks at Four Season restaurant in London. However, 25 years ago I had my yearly physical check up and the doctor told me to lessen the amount of protein intake if I don.t want to have joint problems. I, then, try eating vegetarian diet with eggs for one and a half year and my health condition was better. I was back to eat meat for over 20 years ; the result was obvious; I got high cholesterol, high blood pressure,was obese and found the beginning of diabetics. Thanks for the saturated fat in meat and animal products!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I would be healthier if I also ate less meat. But it's so much tastier than most vegetarian food! And my natural genetic programming is to eat more meat.
DeleteDinner time ... in the fridge there is pork, salmon and some roll things containing more pork. There are also some brussels sprouts, which I love, and some aspargus. I think I can cope with a balanced dinner today, perhaps more veggies than meat.
First of all, I agree that meat is very tasty and I really it, but since it isn’t very healthy after I read this article I started to concern about my health. I’m not sure how much I eat meat a day. I think people started to concern about their health, some people eating clean food now, I can buy a fudgy low fat brownie at less than 150 calories per piece I hope that in the future someone will create the healthy meat that tastes exactly like meat but healthier.
ReplyDeleteLast year I ate vegetarian for 10 days in Chinese festival, I realized that meat tasted better. Eating higher amounts of animal protein correlating with higher health risks ,however, increasing protein from vegetable sources correlating with lower risks of death. For example, eating more fruits and vegetables can counter the bad effects such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
ReplyDeleteI ever ate vegetarian for a few days per month and I can did it only 3 month because I miss meat, I am meat eater. But, I agree with your content, we can eat only protein from plants such as vegetarian do-eat egg is fine for me. However, Meat is delicious and can't stop to eat. To eat meat and plants protein in balancing way is good solution.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we don't rely on to eat meat but we can eat other plants which contain protein. It is helpful for us to maintain our health. But it is difficult for me to practice to don't eat meat; in the J festival, I've never been successful to eat only vegetable dishes along the festival. For me, it's not delicious but I can eat in some meals. I'm a meat lover but I don't eat beef because my family and I are Thai-Chinese and we respect to don't eat any big animals like cows. Dean & Deluca is just opened near my house for a few months ago. I live near the Ekamai-Ramintra express way and it's opened at The Crystal shopping mall. I will try to eat some dishes at this restaurant with my friends.
ReplyDeleteThis post really draw my attention. When it comes to thing about food, everything seems interesting for me. Well, I totally agree with you. Meat is not really good for our health. I've read some articles which talk about how meat can cause cancer and other bad heath condition a while ago. We can get protein from other source like plants or nuts. And i've tired to do that, become a vegetarian about 2 months... before i lose control of myself and go back to eat meat again. It is so delicious, too delicious to resist. However, I also eat a lot of vegetables. I love them both!
ReplyDeleteActually, I trying to have a healthy lifestyle, eat good food and workout. And when you do exercise, protein is very important because you body need it to create muscle. It's difficult to get enough amount of protein for that, especially protein from plants. It's a lot easier to eat meat or egg. Like you said above, I think if we didn't eat excessive amount of meat everyday, It's totally fine. And because of reading this, on Friday I will try the lamb shank at Dean & Deluca!
I hope you enjoy my recommendation.
DeleteI'm planning a half duck from the market this Friday.
From your question, Do we need meat? I think...No, we don't and that's right meat is very tasty I agree with you in that sentence. I like to eat meat. For my answer "No" because I think sources of plant protein has low saturated fat, no cholesterol, high fibre, mineral, vitamin and phytonutrients, which phytonutrients can help to protect cancer in our body. Plant protein has energy lower than meat protein and it has usefulness for people who want to control their weight and remove their fat from body. I think it is very good choice for them but sometimes I think we should eat meat about two days per week because meat protein will repair and build cell in our body to be healthy person especially for young people who want to recieve that for their growth.
ReplyDeleteFor each my meal, I often eat plants more than meat because plants can help for my excretory system. Moreover, my mother has high blood pressure and cholesterol. I would like to take care my mother for her health, I always make salad which it has many palnts for her in every evening. After that about two months she went to see the doctor. She has decreased high blood pressure and chorestorol. Now, she enjoy eating with salad every evening. I'm happy to see her happiness.