Is Meat Healthy?
When you are thinking about what to eat, the question is meat healthy comes up a lot. And the answers you find will also vary. Sometimes a lot.
People who say it is healthy almost always talk about a specific kind of meat. This is grass fed, naturally raised meat. It has a lot going for it. A great amino acid mix, a good amount of healthy fat and it tastes great.
But you aren’t going to find this in your local fast food outlet. They have to spice their meat so it tastes like something. Grass fed beef is best with just a bit of salt. No need to hide behind a barrage of spices.
People who say meat isn’t healthy point to the additives, hormones and inhumane treatment of animals. And they have a point. When you start fussing with nature, something gets lost. Raising cattle in cramped feed lots is fussing. So is shooting them full of hormones and antibiotics. And the additives can be disgusting.
A case in point is the recent hubub about “pink slime.” In case you managed to miss the reports, this additive is made up of mostly useless animal parts. It is then added to ground beef and other foods to boost protein levels. And it’s cheap. It is a kind of meat filler.
But that’s not the only thing un-natural about some of the beef you can buy. There is what is called MAP. And there are more besides. Health Science Institute has the scoop:
With MAP, gasses help preserve meat. One of those gasses is carbon monoxide. It helps give the slime, er…I mean “meat” a fresh red color.
That’s right — carbon monoxide. In your LFTB-enhanced ground beef! Yum!
The newest revelation of meat trickery is transglutaminnase. Meat preparers refer to it as “meat glue.”
This “glue” is just an enzyme that permanently bonds proteins. So, for instance, you can take two scraps of meat and bond them into a larger portion. The bond is seamless, so customers like us never know.
But some meat producers get creative with meat glue. They might take beef scraps and form them in the shape of filet mignon. Presto! Meat scraps that would sell for next-to-nothing become high-priced, “gourmet” cuts.
Wow. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
So Is Meat Healthy?
As the headline says, it depends. Now that you know what could be in your store bought or restaurant beef, you can ask good questions. You can ask:
- Is there pink slime in this?
- Has this meat been gassed (MAP)?
- Is there any “meat glue” in this beef?
But even safer, if you want the benefits of healthy beef, is to eat high quality. That means grass-fed, naturally raised. And you want to make sure it comes from a trusted source.
If you do that, you will know the answer to the question, is meat healthy?
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