Eating too much red meat could be bad for your health Sizzling steaks and juicy burgers are staples in many people's diets. But research has shown that regularly eating red meat and processed meat can raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and certain cancers, especially colorectal cancer.
“If you have a big steak on Saturday night that doesn't mean you can't have any red meat for the rest of the week,” says Schenker. “But I wouldn't recommend you eat red meat every day, even in small quantities either.” Enjoy responsibly – but most of all, enjoy.
Dietary goal
If you eat red meat, limit consumption to no more than about three portions per week. Three portions is equivalent to about 350–500g (about 12–18oz) cooked weight.
Although you can safely eat two small servings of red meat daily, it's best to incorporate a variety of protein sources in your diet, keeping your red meat intake to a few days per week. That's because too much red meat has been linked to cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
How often should you eat red meat? Try to limit your red meat consumption to 1 to 2 serving per week, which is 6 ounces or less per week. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol, the recommendation is to limit red meat to less than or equal to 3 ounces per week.
The Cancer Council advises that meat eaters should limit red meat to three or four times a week (no more than 700g raw weight per week) and choose fish, chicken and legumes on other days.
Steak is an excellent source of protein that's slower to digest so will keep protein synthesis elevated for hours to come after you eat it. Grass fed steak is also going to contain some healthy fats, including CLA which can help enhance your body composition, assisting you with getting leaner as you build muscle.
Eating rare steak is like giving your body a direct jolt of iron and phosphorus. Both of these nutrients are helpful for preventing fatigue. If you eat a rare steak in moderation, the iron in the meat increases the oxygen in your blood, and the phosphorus provides strength to your bones.
Beef, pork and lamb are excellent sources of protein, as well as being tasty. However, eating excessive amounts of meat each day is not healthy for anyone, even bodybuilders who have much higher protein requirements.
Meat is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet. However, if you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red or processed meat a day, the Department of Health and Social Care advises that you cut down to 70g.
Your digestion might suffer from a lack of fiber.
One consequence of eating too much meat is that you're likely eating fewer other foods, including whole grains and fresh produce. As a result, you might find yourself feeling bloated, or suffering from either constipation or diarrhea, from poor digestion.
A steak and eggs diet gives your body enough protein to build and repair cells, including the muscle cells damaged when exercising. This eating plan is high in different amino acids. When these amino acids are consumed from a protein source (like meat and eggs), they can increase muscle protein synthesis.
Skinless, white-meat chicken and turkey (think breast versus thigh) provide an excellent source of lean protein, including the essential amino acid leucine, B vitamins and minerals that are key components of building and maintaining muscle.
Chicken breast is the primary whole-food protein source for many bodybuilders. This makes sense because it's low in calories and high in protein.
Beef is High in Protein and Helps Improve Muscle Mass
Protein is the building block our body uses to repair and make bone, skin, and cartilage.
A serving of red meat is also a good source of zinc, which can help the body produce testosterone, and selenium, a powerful antioxidant. Plus, red meat is rich in iron. However, Dr. Hu says that you don't need to eat red meat to get these essential nutrients.
There are so many myths about meat, including whether it sits in your gut for ages after you eat it. Nothing 'sits' in your gut. Your digestive system is not a recycling centre that carefully separates your food into meat, vegetables, grains and so on and then processes them separately.
Iron, Vitamins, Zinc and Creatine
There are all sorts of theories as to why red meat, steak specifically, should make you strong or make you feel strong. Meat contains large doses of heme iron, which is typically absorbed at a rate of 7 to 35%, compared to the 2 to 20% of the non-heme iron found in plants.
Both chicken and beef enhance energy efficiency in different ways. If you had to pick one, choose chicken! In the end, it lands the killer blow to beef for its superior muscle-building, versatility and key nutrients for cardiovascular health.
Bodybuilders typically see amazing results when they eat massive amounts of beef, but consuming too much can cause distress on the stomach during digestion. In addition, high amounts of beef have been shown to raise cholesterol levels due to its high fat content.
We appreciate that it is not realistic to ask people to consume this amount of meat each week, so we are now looking at the impact the recommended 3-4 serves of red meat per week has on muscle mass and strength as well as brain function," Professor Daly explained.