Red Meat Consumption

Scientists have scrutinize the safety of red meat consumption for several decades. Red meat has been linked to coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, colorectal cancer, alzheimer’s disease, and nearly every other disease that can be caused by dietary habits. Scientists have made these assertions based on extensive research conducted in studies on a large scale across the globe. The validity of these claims rest solely on the assumption that these studies prove the claim and do so accurately. However, many of these study do not prove anything and can only show that two variables have an association with each other, not a direct connection. Also, these study fail to distinguish the difference between types of meat and skew the perceived results. Because these studies cannot directly prove the harms of red meat in comparison to the harms of other types, red meat cannot
The difference lies in how the meat is processed. Authoritynutrition.com describes the difference as “[processed meats] are smoked, cured, then treated with nitrates, preservatives and various chemicals, [whereas organic red meat] comes from animals that have been naturally fed and raised organically, without drugs and hormones [and] also don’t have any artificial chemicals added to them.” Other studies, such as the meta-analysis of 20 other studies, prove this difference, concluding that the “consumption of processed meats, but not red meats, is associated with higher incidence of CHD and diabetes mellitus” (Micah). This study review 20 other studies that demonstrated a link between processed meat, red meat, and diseases; however this link only pertains to processed meat and not red meat. As such, the other studies cannot be used to show that red meat causes health