Vegan Eats Steak, Shows Why Going Meatless is Good For You
Red meat has not exactly been on the A-list of healthy foods for a long time as it’s been linked to an increased risk for cancer and heart disease. New research in the journal Nature Medicine suggests that eating even lean steak that is low in fat and cholesterol can be bad for your heart. The reason is that a chemical found in red meat, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), can actually “encourage” the growth of fatty deposits on the walls of the arteries.
However, a vegan who was a participant in the study did not show the same spike in levels of TMAO — which changes the very metabolism of cholesterol and slows the removal of it from the arteries’ walls — after eating a 200-gram sirloin steak.
Dr. Stanley Hazen, head of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and his colleagues made this discovery while conducting a series of experiments to find out why red meat consumptions has been linked to heart disease. They first gave 77 participants (26 of whom were vegans or vegetarians) the nutrient carnitine, which is found in meat and dairy products.
Taking carnitine, which is also taken as a supplement to improve athletic performance and for weight loss and which is found in energy drinks, increased the volunteers’ levels of TMAO. But the vegans and vegetarians produced far less TMAO after taking carnitine supplements. Analysis showed that they indeed had “very different types of bacteria in their guts” than did those who ate meat.
From this, Dr. Hazen concluded that eating meat regularly promotes the growth of intestinal bacteria that then turns the carnitine in red meat into TMAO. The researchers confirmed their findings by checking carnitine levels in people who were having voluntary heart check-ups. Carnitine on its own was not linked to heart disease but, when combined with TMAO, it turned people into “prime targets for heart disease.”
“Bacterial Alchemy” At Work in Our Intestines
It’s not carnitine alone that increases your risk for heart disease, but what Nature.com refers to as “bacterial alchemy.” If you’re regularly eating meat, you are setting in motion a process in which intestinal bacteria feed on the carnitine from a steak, burger, etc. and produce TMAO. Over time, your risk for heart disease rises.
Carnitine is also found in chicken, fish and dairy products, but in far smaller amounts than in red meat. It had not previously been connected to an increased risk of heart disesase, Gina Kolata notes in the New York Times.
As a result of the study, Dr. Hazen — once a routine consumer of red meat — has himself lowered his consumption of it, to once every two weeks. The study also indirectly offers more evidence of why foregoing meat has its pluses. The vegan who ate the sirloin steak in the study was indeed found to have “virtually no TMAO” in his or her blood — a suggestion of why not eating meat can do your heart good (and then some).
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Read more: carnitine, diet, heart disease, meat, meat eating, nutrition, red meat, vegan, vegetarian
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+ add your ownThe slower absorption of plant iron may be an advantage, as iron is an oxidant and there is some speculation (admittedly not rock solid) that very high levels of iron are detrimental to overall health and longevity. Levels of anemia among vegans are roughly the same as that of the general population. Adding a vitamin C source, e.g. adding lemon to broccoli, enhances absorption of iron.
why is this inappropriate?
Jeaneen...that just goes to show that we are all different and have different requirements. I get anemic when I don't eat enough beef, but I only need a small portion about 3 or 4 times a year.
Plant based iron is not absorbed as well as iron from meat in general and you have to eat a lot more of it to get the same amount...if that's even possible.
I've never known anyone who ate rare steak 3 times a day...that's pretty excessive. Maybe that was her problem.
Perhaps she needed to pay more attention to her diet in the first place and the other changes she made may have helped more than she knew.
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A friend of mine, who eats meat, went to her doctor and found out she is anemic. Now this girl eats steak for breakfast and supper, rare steak at that. She went to a specialist to get a second opinion and yes she is definitely anemic. Her doctor put her on a Vegan diet, which amazed her, he told her that meats fat can keep the iron from being absorbed. Well, that was 6 months ago and she is now fine. Gloria, is just amazed, she is not only feeling better, but her blood pressure has come done from 180/80 to 130/60 her cholesterol has come down from 250 to 140. She is now a forever Vegan. I myself have been Vegan for 26 years and feel wonderful.
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yea w shudnt eat meat , it is also beneficial fr the animals as well as us
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Michael T says: “Spending the amount of time necessary to research the number of people who gave you green stars who list their food preferences speaks of an ego that sounds lacking and empty and in need of propping up”.
Rudeness noted.
I have personally met individuals and families who became vegan and vegetarian through reading CARE2 threads.
By researching and discovering that a number of meat-eaters are grateful for the vegan-related information I offer, I am assured that it is worthwhile continuing to provide information to them.
With Easter just around the corner, they may like to check out the vegan hot cross bun recipe at this link:
http://www.food.com/recipe/hot-cross-buns-gluten-dairy-and-egg-free-122238
why is this inappropriate?
Well, well, self-congratulatory behavior. You know, you sound an awful lot like Karl Rove on the night of the last election LandP. LOL.
Let me also add that I suspect that not all vegans claim this information on their profiles which means that some of those meat eaters you claim you received stars from may in fact be vegans and perhaps as rabid about it as you appear to be. Spending the amount of time necessary to research the number of people who gave you green stars who list their food preferences speaks of an ego that sounds lacking and empty and in need of propping up.
why is this inappropriate?
L&P, Regurgitating the same original points (which have already been rebutted) without addressing rebuttals, does not prove your position at all. ALL of your points have already been addressed and you know it.
Briefly: Just refusing to eat certain animals does nothing to prevent their suffering, UNLESS you take active steps to protect and care for them. This includes food, shelter, and most importantly, spay/neuter. Obviously you don’t do this. Therefore, not only have you not saved 200+ food animals in your life, but you have personally destroyed several thousands/millions of DIFFERENT animals by contributing to the vegan food industry.
If your logic is true, all the animals who are not eaten would have wonderful lives now. They don’t. Most of them are constantly being starved/neglected/abused, just like food animals. And a few food animals are treated quite well. What matters is NOT whether animals are eaten or not, but how responsible/kind their caregivers are.
Majority of the human population is greedy and selfish. Forcing them to go vegan would not change this. Even if there are laws prohibiting the EATING of animals, they will continue to neglect/abuse them. By focusing on the eating of animals while completely ignoring neglect/abuse and cruelty, you are doing a huge disservice to animals just to line your own pockets.
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btw...another misconception that screams to be recognized is that one does not HAVE to sacrifice their health by eating a diet that excludes entire food groups in order to live a vegan lifestyle.
Many, of not most, conscious humans live as vegan a lifestyle as those who choose to eat overly processed cardboard foodstuffs that claim to be vegan while supplementing with artificial chemical nutrients which are poorly assimilated by their bodies.
Then when they get sick, they also have to take medications that were tested on animals.....so much for the vegan lifestyle they like to pretend is so altruistic.
In reality we all support the deaths just to stay alive and have all the necessities for daily living. No one is guilt-free.
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It's quite delusional to think that if people stop eating meat, the animals will no longer be bred or killed.
There are too many household products and other necessities for which human life (as we now know it) relies upon the by-products of the meat industry.
Many people do not eat 100-200 animals in their lifetime....except perhaps small animals like fish and chicken. My husband and I combined would never consume that many animals.
According to hardcore vegans, omnivores die off early as a result of eating meat.....so most people would never live long enough to eat so many animals if that were true.
It's amusing how they can twist their perception and change their opinion and 'statistics' to suit their argument against a nutritionally balanced healthy diet.
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Suba G says: "...if you provide VALID reasons if and how veganism reduces cruelty to animals, you might actually get some real converts".
When someone stops eating animals, I believe it is obvious to the average person how this prevents the suffering and death of those animals.
Simply put, if one typical meat-eating American stops eating animals, the 100-200 creatures he would have eaten in his lifetime are not needed for his consumption and therefore are not needed or produced by the meat industry. (Supply and demand).
When millions of people stop killing and eating animals, significantly less animal bodies are demanded of the meat industry and therefore are not bred for sale. (Supply and demand).
When everyone stops eating animals, none of the multiple trillions of animal bodies will be needed for human consumption and therefore will not be born to be killed. (No demand, no supply).
One must first acknowledge that killing animals is lethal abuse of them. Then he/she is more likely to embrace a vegetarian diet – which may or may not be followed by a vegan diet - which may or may not be followed by a vegan lifestyle.
See this link for an understanding of the vegan lifestyle: http://www.vegsource.com/jo/vegan.htm
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