What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Meat Every Day?

Meat comes from animal muscles and tissues and includes organs like the liver and heart. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a more narrow definition of meat, which omits fish, poultry, and wild game. You may simply know meat as red meat, like beef and pork, or white meat, like chicken and turkey.

Meat is an excellent source of high-quality protein, which helps build and repair your body’s tissues. It’s also rich in important nutrients like iron and zinc.

However, eating meat every day can have health benefits and risks, depending on the type and amount consumed.

Meat is a great source of high-quality protein. It has all the essential amino acids, which your body can only get through food. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein needed for muscle repair, tissue growth, and overall health. Meat proteins also have a high biological value, which means your body can use a large portion of the protein in meat to support your body’s needs.

Meat also provides important vitamins and minerals. Meat is a major source of iron, a mineral needed to make hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Iron is essential for healthy muscles, bone marrow, and organ function. Your body also needs iron to produce certain hormones.

Meat is a rich source of zinc, an essential mineral that supports your immune system, aids in cell growth and repair, helps heal wounds, and plays a role in carbohydrate metabolism. Zinc is also important for your senses of smell and taste.

Meat is also high in B vitamins. These vitamins are essential for your body’s process of turning food into energy. They also help in the formation of red blood cells.

Eating too much of any food or food group, including meat, is not recommended. Dietary guidelines and health experts emphasize a balanced diet with variety to avoid cutting out other essential food groups like fruits, vegetables, and grains. It’s also important to include various protein sources, such as fish and plant proteins.

Some studies show that eating too much red or processed meat can increase the risk of cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Eating less than 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of red meat per day is recommended to lower the risk of cancers like prostate, breast, or colorectal cancer.

Red meat also has more environmental contaminants than white meat (poultry). Many contaminants are found in the fat, so it’s a good idea to choose lean meats and mix up your protein sources to avoid eating red meat at every meal every day.

Eating large amounts of meat can also have a greater environmental impact. Research shows that meat-heavy diets, like the carnivore diet, have the highest carbon footprint. In contrast, plant-based diets, such as vegetarian and vegan diets, have the lowest environmental impact.

While there are no set guidelines for how much meat to eat, there are guidelines for how much protein to consume. Recommendations vary based on factors like age, body weight, activity level, and health conditions.

Protein is important for preventing muscle loss as you age. For healthy adults, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. This is the minimum to avoid protein deficiency. However, experts suggest eating 1.2 grams per kilogram to reduce age-related muscle loss. Protein should make up 10-35% of your daily calories, depending on your lifestyle and needs.

While getting enough protein is important, watching your portion size is just as important. This helps make room for other foods in your diet so you can get various nutrients to support overall health.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines also recommend eating a mix of protein foods, including plant-based proteins like beans and soy products. These plant proteins provide phytochemicals (healthy plant compounds) and nutrients like fiber that aren’t found in meat.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing lean meat sources for a healthy diet. Lean meats have less saturated fat than fatty cuts of meat. Eating too much saturated fat can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. Red meats like beef, pork, and lamb usually have more saturated fat than skinless chicken or fish.

You can still include red meat in a healthy diet by choosing lean cuts. Here are the best lean cuts for each type of meat:

• Lean beef cuts: Round steaks and roasts, top loin, top sirloin, chuck shoulder, arm roasts, and ground beef labeled at least 90% lean
• Lean pork cuts: Pork loin, tenderloin, center loin, and ham
• Lean poultry: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts and turkey cutlets
• Deli meats: Turkey, roast beef, ham, and low-fat luncheon meat

Meats higher in saturated fat that you should limit include:

• Fatty cuts of beef, pork, and lamb
• Regular ground beef (75-85% lean)
• Fatty poultry like duck
• Processed meats such as sausages, hot dogs, and bacon
• Luncheon meats like bologna and salami

To ensure that meat is a healthy part of your diet, manage your portion sizes and make mindful choices about the types of meat you eat. Eating a balanced diet with various protein sources, including plant-based options, can help you get the necessary nutrients without overloading on meat.

Here are some key tips for managing meat intake and preparing it healthily:

• Choose lean cuts: To reduce your unhealthy fat intake, opt for lean meats like chicken breast, turkey, lean beef, and pork loin.
• Trim visible fat: Before cooking, remove any visible fat from meats.
• Control portion sizes: Limit meat portions to 3-4 ounces, roughly the size of a deck of cards. This will help you avoid overeating meat and make room for other foods.
• Cook wisely: Grilling, baking, broiling, or steaming meat are healthier cooking methods that help reduce excess fat compared to frying.
• Balance with plant proteins: Incorporating plant-based protein sources like beans, lentils, tofu, and quinoa helps diversify your diet and provides added fiber and nutrients.

Meat is a great source of protein. Choosing lean cuts of meat is best for overall health since it helps minimize unhealthy fats.

While meat is a healthy addition to your diet, it’s important not to overdo it, as overeating can cut out other vital food groups.

When preparing meats, opt for healthier cooking methods like baking, broiling, or grilling to preserve their nutritional value while reducing added fats.