Resolution: Lose Weight
Losing weight is the No. 1 resolution in 2014. Given that 69 percent of Americans over the age of 19 are either overweight or obese, that shouldn't be a shocker. What may come as a surprise, though, is that red meat — beef, pork and lamb — may be a key culprit making us fat.
A June 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, for example, followed some 55,000 healthy, middle-aged Swedish women. The researchers found that vegans, vegetarians who ate dairy products, and study participants who ate poultry but avoided red meat had a lower risk of being overweight or obese than their more carnivorous counterparts. "The take-home message," lead study author P.K. Newby, a scientist at Tufts University, told the Washington Post, "is that individuals who have the lowest risk of being overweight or obese are consuming a mostly plant-based diet."
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published an even bigger study in June 2010 involving roughly 100,000 men and 270,000 women between the ages of 25 and 70 in 10 European countries. The study, which analyzed the connection between weight gain and total meat, red meat, poultry and processed meat consumption, found that a subject increasing his or her meat intake by 9 ounces a day — the equivalent of one steak at 450 calories — would lead to a weight gain of nearly 4 and a half pounds over a five-year period.
So if you want to shed some pounds, you should cut back on beef, as well as pork and lamb.
Resolution: Spend Less, Save More
Eating less meat — especially the more expensive grades of beef — will fatten your wallet. The most recent available government data peg the average cost of a pound of ground beef at $3.88, roast beef at $4.88, and steak at $6.33. If you want to splurge, the top of the line sirloin — USDA Choice boneless — will set you back $6.80 a pound. Meanwhile, ham — excluding canned and luncheon slices — costs only $2.80 a pound, and a whole chicken, $1.52 a pound. Even boneless chicken breasts are only $3.45 a pound, still less than ground beef.
Eating pasta or beans at least once a week instead of meat would stretch your dollars further. For example, if a family of four substituted a meatless spaghetti dinner ($1.29 a pound) for roast beef ($7.32 for one and a half pounds), they would save around $6. That's an annual savings of $312.
Resolution: Stay Fit and Healthy
If you want to stay fit, exercise regularly. If you want to stay healthy and live longer, eat less red meat, which has been linked to cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
In March 2009, a 10-year National Cancer Institute review of studies that followed half a million Americans found that those who ate 4 ounces of red meat or more daily increased their overall risk of premature death 30 percent compared with those who consumed less. Sausage, luncheon meats and other processed meats also increased the risk. Those who ate mostly poultry or fish had a lower risk of premature death.
A March 2012 Harvard School of Public Health review, meanwhile, looked at studies that collectively followed 120,000 Americans' eating habits over a 28-year period. It found that people who ate a serving of beef, pork or lamb every day had a 13 percent increased risk of premature death compared with those who ate little or no red meat. Daily helpings of processed meat, such as two slices of bacon or one hot dog, increased the risk of premature death 20 percent.
The Harvard review also found that replacing one serving of red meat with fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat diary or grains was associated with a 7 percent to 19 percent lower mortality risk. The researchers estimated that 9.3 percent of male deaths and 7.6 percent of female deaths could have been prevented if study participants had consumed less than half a serving of red meat per day.
"This study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death," said review co-author Dr. Frank Hu in a press release issued by the Harvard School of Public Health. "On the other hand, choosing more healthful sources of protein in place of red meat can confer significant health benefits by reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality."
