Three reasons why we should stop eating red meat.

By Kac Young PhD, ND, DCH

• ONE: Red meat contains L -carnitine. A team from a half dozen U.S. medical centers says this is the offending ingredient, a compound abundant in red meat.

According to this work, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, eating red meat delivers L-carnitine to bacteria that live in the human gut. These bacteria digest L-carnitine and turn it into a compound called trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). TMAO has been shown to cause atherosclerosis, in mice, the disease process that leads to cholesterol-clogged arteries. Clogged arteries can lead to heart attacks. (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/new-study-links-l-carnitine-in-red-meat-to-heart-disease-201304176083)

• TWO: When animals get sick, they sometimes need to be treated with antibiotics. However, a huge proportion of the antibiotics are routinely given to livestock to promote faster growth or to prevent diseases caused by factory-farming practices. When we eat these animals, we routinely expose ourselves to antibiotics we don’t need—and that contributes to the rise (and the virulence) of antibiotic-resistant infections. In a study of fast food chains that carry antibiotic-free red meat, done by Consumer Reports, only two of the 25 chains earned an “A”—Shake Shack and BurgerFi. Wendy’s did marginally better than the rest, with a grade of “D-minus.” But the other 22—including such favorites as McDonald’s, Burger King, Hardees and In-N-Out Burger, popular on the West coast—all got big fat “Fs.”
• THREE: Other important reasons to avoid eating red meat not directly related to individual health: Cattle farming has devastating environmental effects, including production of greenhouse gases, water pollution, and deforestation. “Health effects in humans aside, red meat consumption is clearly bad for the health of our planet,” says Dr. Mozaffarian.

Conclusion: if you are not convinced that consuming red meat is bad for your heart, arteries and health, then think about the planet. Stop eating red meat because your mother says to, Mother Earth, that is.