(ORDO NEWS) — Meat consumption has been unnecessarily demonized in recent years, writes the Al Arabiya website. This problem has prompted researchers to consider the consumption of meat products and its impact on human health. According to the authors of the articles, the result should shock all vegetarians and vegans.
Over the past decade, many people have completely abandoned meat. The main motivation that prompted them to completely abandon animal products was the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, including vegan. Some studies show that replacing red meat with fruits and vegetables can help keep you healthy and prevent many serious diseases.
In recent years, meat consumption has been unnecessarily demonized. This prompted researchers from the University of Adelaide (Australia) to consider the issue of meat consumption and its impact on human health.
Unexpected Results
The results of the study came as a complete surprise to vegetarians and vegans. Meat has been found to prolong life.
The author of the study, a researcher at the University of Adelaide, Dr. Wenping Yu noted that people lived and developed for millions of years thanks to the consumption of meat in large quantities.
“We wanted to take a closer look at studies that speak negatively about the presence of meat in the human diet. If we consider only the correlations of meat consumption with the health or life expectancy of people in a certain group, as well as in a certain region or country, this can lead to ambiguous and erroneous conclusions “Our team analyzed the relationship between meat consumption and life expectancy, as well as child mortality at the global and regional levels, which allowed us to minimize research bias and make our findings more representative of the overall health effects of meat consumption,” Yu said.
Over 170 countries
Researchers from the University of Adelaide, whose article was published in The International Journal of General Medicine, studied the impact of meat on human health in more than 170 countries around the world.
As a result, it was found that, unlike grains and root vegetables, the level of meat consumption is directly related to life expectancy, regardless of factors such as total calorie intake, economic wealth, urban advantage and obesity.
“Although some studies in the past have found detrimental effects of meat consumption on human health, the methods and conclusions of these studies are contradictory and indirect,” said Dr. Yu.
“Optimal Nutrition”
The lead author of the study, Professor Maciej Henneberg, emphasized that humanity, over more than two million years of its evolution, has perfectly adapted to the consumption of meat.
“The meat of small and large animals provided our ancestors with optimal nutrition. This stimulated the appearance of genetic, physiological and morphological changes aimed at the assimilation of meat products by the human body, and we inherited these adaptive changes,” Henneberg explained.
But with the rapid development of nutritional sciences and rising levels of economic prosperity, research focused on the nutrition of certain populations in developed countries has linked meat-free diets (vegetarian and vegan) to improved health.
Staple food
“I think we need to understand that this is not inconsistent with the fact that eating meat is healthy. Studies looking at the diets of the affluent and highly educated in today’s society look at people who have high purchasing power and knowledge of a plant-based diet. Vegetarians have full access to all the nutrients substances normally found in meat, essentially replacing it with other nutrients,” says Yangfei Ge, a nutritionist who participated in the study.
Study co-author, University of Adelaide biologist Dr Renata Henneberg says meat remains a staple food for many people around the world today.
She also notes that prior to the advent of agriculture 10,000 years ago, meat was the staple of the human diet.
“The impact of meat on human health varies depending on the population and types of meat considered. However, looking at all aspects, as in this study, there is a positive correlation between meat consumption and overall health,” added Henneberg.
“We may not develop”
Study co-author, University of Adelaide anthropologist and Polish Academy of Sciences biologist Dr. Artur Saniotis, explained that the findings are consistent with other studies that show grain-based foods have less nutritional value than meat.
“While this is not a surprise to many of us, it is still worth paying attention to. All indications are that meat has its own components that contribute to our overall health, in addition to the number of calories consumed, and that without meat in the diet we we can’t develop,” he added.
Saniotis also said: “We believe that eating meat is good for human health, provided that it is consumed in moderation and that the meat industry is conducted in an ethical manner.”
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