Should We Eat Meat?
Is meat healthy, vegetarian diets, liver health, high cholesterol, healthy metabolism, thyroid health
I always have extreme hesitancy when I write about things that push back on the current diet trend, especially one that can be linked to morals, but we need to talk about it. Part of my job as a dietitian is to educate and help you make the best decision for your health. I will be one sided on some things because of evidence I have seen, but that doesn’t mean I will ever shame you or make you do something you don’t want to do.
So let’s put fear aside and dive into it. Meat got a bad reputation ever since studies came out linking higher meat consumption to obesity, colon cancer, heart disease and general inflammation (to name a few). This can be true if we are also consuming a lot of processed meats like bacon, hot dogs and sausage along with other unhealthy choices like soda, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle, long work hours, poor sleep etc. It’s not just one factor that causes negative health effects and it’s really important to differentiate between high quality meat versus low quality meat. Where your meat comes from plays a big role in lowering health risk. I know not everyone can afford grass-fed, free range, organic, no GMOs etc etc. BUT it does make a difference in overall health and is important to highlight.
Regardless of the type of meat, here is why I find meat consumption so important when we are looking into metabolism health: Our body absorbs and utilizes the protein from animal sources better than plant sources. The protein we get from animal sources is the preferred source for the liver to do its job well.
Here is a list of things the liver does for a healthy metabolism:
-Convert T4 hormone to T3 which is the active form of thyroid hormone
-Helps process cholesterol. Cholesterol is needed for formation of sex hormones and hormones used by the adrenals
-Balances blood sugar
-Plays a role in insulin signaling and sensitivity
-Process carbs and helps with fat digestion
-Helps the body convert food into energy
SIDE BAR:
Let’s pause for a moment to talk about the cholesterol piece because it’s not only important, but quite fascinating. Meat consumption is known to raise cholesterol levels, but is it reallllly meat consumption that is the problem… or is the liver stressed and can’t process cholesterol well? The liver will actually make more cholesterol if we don’t eat enough so… I think it may be because the liver is stressed. If the liver can’t process cholesterol and inflammation is present, this is where we can see problems with high cholesterol. Let me say this in another way: High cholesterol is not as concerning until we see that inflammation is also present. This can have a domino effect on other areas of our body like our menstrual cycle or metabolism because cholesterol plays a role in sex hormone formation and hormones used in the adrenal cortex.
One more note before you go on about your day…
Please note that liver stress from not eating enough animal source protein doesn’t happen overnight, but it can happen. It also doesn’t mean you can’t be happy and healthy on a vegetarian diet, it can just be harder for some people without meat to reach their health goals.
It’s also important to note that just because you start eating meat doesn’t mean you will automatically drop 10 pounds. Metabolism is much more than just weight loss and if weight loss is the goal, there are several factors that go into your success. I don’t mean to kill your hope for weight loss answers (I can actually help you find the reason you haven’t been losing weight), but I really like to be honest because I don’t want anyone to get the idea that meat is the “magic weight loss pill”. It’s just an integral part to a healthy metabolism in my professional opinion.
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