Meat: Healthy, unhealthy, or neither?

Question

I've heard a lot of arguments as to whether meat is healthy for the human body, unhealthy, or perhpas a combination of the two so the pros and the cons cancel eachother out. What do you think?

Answer 1

Meat in it's essence can provide your body w/needed nutrients; it's when the animal is raised w/an over abundance of hormones and antibiotics and only eats processed grains that it becomes somewhat unhealthy.

Answer 2

As noted...lean meat devoid of saturated fat, in moderation as part of a balanced diet is very good for you.  The medical community has long articulated these beliefs.  

Where you run into problems is portion size (which is completely out of control), and steroids/additives/hormones added to meat.

Answer 3

the vast majority of meat today is unhealthy because of all the drugs factory farmers pump into the animals to keep them alive and grow faster.  also, the human body is not designed to eat meat.  if you add in cruelty to animals, which isnt healthy for anyone, i'd say meat is quite bad.

Answer 4

Given the forum you've asked this in, you're probably going to mostly get answers telling you it's just bad for you.

This isn't entirely true. Anything can be bad for you, if used in excess. This can be said of meat, as well as of many veg food items. However, eaten in moderate amounts, and cooked in healthy ways, an omnivorous diet is no worse for you than a vegetarian or vegan one. The human body evolved to be at least partially meat eating, just not in the quantity that most western countries do, especially the US. The person claiming to be a "pre-doctor" is full of it. Nutritionists certainly do say to cut down, but other than people with certain medical issues, most are not told to abstain from meat in general. Some are even told to eat more. It's more that people eat the worst kinds of meat, prepared in very unhealthy ways. There's a reason we're a bunch of fatties. : D

Answer 5

Lean cuts of meat a healthy source of protein and certain minerals.

Answer 6

I am not a doctor I am stll a pre-doctor so I do want to make it seem like this is a fact. The human body was not naturally made to digest meat. We were not built to handle the heaviness that it contains thats why most nutrienest say eat red meat once a week and eat less meat. People who take breaks for eating meat have been known to become heahthier but on the other had the about of protein in meat is benificial to us for so many reasons. Course then again there are so many vegatables that can do the same. And you must also consider how the meat is prepared and how they are killed. If I  had to say either /or  meat is not the healthiest thing in the world.

Answer 7

UNHEALTHY!! it is full of blood and other animal parts. and did u know that every piece of meat has a little bit of p**p in it?

Answer 8

healthy: iron, protein, FLAVOR!

unhealthy: saturated fats

i think it is healthy in lean cuts in reasonable proportions. it isn't as healthy as fish, but it is no like junkfood. hope this helps!

Answer 9

unhealthy

how could it be healthy? its eating a living thing

would you eat your dog or grandma?

Answer 10

If part of a balanced diet, lean meats can be perfectly healthy.

Anything that is ground and already prepared will usually be full of saturated fat and fillers.

Just because I'm vegan, it doesn't mean that I'm supposed to pretend that people with traditional diets never live past 100.

Answer 11

Neither, depending on the meat...

The big problem with meat today is all the chemical that are being found in it. Steroids, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives,  even pesticides are found in commercial meat. USDA Certified Organic meat is the way to go if you're going to eat it. Or, if you know a local farmer who's environmentally conscious! Words like free-range don't really have a whole lot to do with a lack of chemicals, so keep that in mind, too.