How Much Meat Should I Eat?
Let’s play a game: I tell you a word and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
The word is…PROTEIN. Go!
Did you envision bacon, ground beef, deli meats, eggs, hot dogs, steak?
Meat is one of the most common forms of protein in the American diet. Meat packs an awesome, nutritious punch, providing us with all the amino acids our body needs to build muscle and function properly.
However, Americans simply eat too much…way more than our bodies actually need. The current recommendation for meat consumption is 0.21 pounds per day, or 76.65 pounds over the course of a year. The average American in 2012 ate 125.3 pounds of meat, a whopping 48.65 pounds of extra meat!
Why does this matter? How does an over-consumption of animal proteins affect your health?
Meat and your Health
While eating the proper proportion of meat can provide us with important nutrients, eating too much meat puts us in danger of a large list of health problems.
For example,
- many common meats (steak, chicken thighs, deli meats) contain high levels of saturated fats and sodium which can cause heart disease and high blood pressure.
- processed meats (bacon, sausage, hot dogs) and blackened meats (grilled chicken, hamburgers) contain carcinogens, which are compounds that induce cancer.
- high consumption of meat increases your risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis (yikes all around).
For these reasons, experts recommend that animal proteins do not comprise the bulk of what you eat.
I promise…you will feel a difference and your body will thank you (with long life and happiness) if you limit your animal protein intake to only a couple times a week at most. And according to nufiwa principles, remember to pair the meat in your meal with at least 75% fruits, vegetables, plant proteins, and/or whole grains.