Is It The Meat, Or What’s In the Meat?

Carnivores should be cautious of the meat they consume.

Of all the food groups, meat––particularly red meat––is among the most demonized. From heart disease to cancer, to weight grain, carnivores have long been told we need to cut back on the portions of meat we consume in order to be healthy.

Especially in the last few years, we have seen a dramatic rise in people who are ditching meat altogether. This rise in popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets has been prompted by a number of documentaries, such as What The Health and Forks Over Knives, and books like The China Study.

No doubt that these works highlight some of the impacts that our current, industrialized system for producing meat has both on our own health and the health of our environment, many of which are not pretty. These works should certainly raise some questions for us all regarding what foods we consume. No doubt, too, we all need to be more mindful about what we consume and the subsequent effects on our health.

Many people ultimately opt to do away with consuming meat––and often all eggs and dairy products, too––after hearing about the problems inherent in our food system. And, as we have discussed, for those adhering to The Kaufmann Anti-fungal Plan, it is certainly possible to do a version of the diet that eliminates all meat, eggs, and dairy and still achieve what the Kaufmann Diet’s goal is––elimination of and protection against pathogenic fungi and their poisonous byproducts. 

For those who would not necessarily choose a vegetarian or vegan version of The Kaufmann Diet, there are still some important questions to ask ourselves when it comes to the meat we choose to eat. 

What Wrong With Our Meat?

There are a variety of concerns over the impact of our current, industrialized system of producing meat, particularly in regards to the environment, but focusing on our health, there are a few things to be aware of. 

First, animals raised in a conventional setting are typically fed an unnatural diet consisting of cheap feed products like corn in grain. Not only does this diet affect the quality of the meat in a negative way (often skewing the fat profile of the meat towards the more inflammatory omega 6 end of the spectrum), the feed products used are often contaminated with mold poisons (mycotoxins) that find their way into the subsequent meat and dairy products consumers buy.

Secondly, animals raised in a conventional setting are often given a variety of drugs, such as hormones and antibiotics, for a variety of reasons. Hormone-contaminated food has been linked with a variety of health issues in people, including precocious puberty in girls, and the wanton use of antibiotics has been linked to antibiotic-resistant bugs. Certainly, these are things we would wish to avoid consuming. 

Third, in the case of many of the cured and processed meats many people consume, there is an abundance of preservatives, such as sodium nitrite, that are known carcinogens.

Fourth, despite the fact that they are thought of as “healthy”, farmed fish are often rife with pollutants, such as mercury and other industrial contaminants. Because of their unnatural diet, too, the beneficial fats are often in much lower concentrations in these animals, too.

When you think about all of these things, any sort of deleterious health effects meat is purported to have begun to make more sense. Perhaps, it is not the meat, itself, but how we produce it, and what we do to it afterward.

Knowing that all of these factors can negatively influence our health, there are some easy steps to take that ensure your food is of the best quality. 

Shop for organic varieties of meat.

Organic animal products will not be tainted with hormones or antibiotics. The USDA Organic label is the gold standard in the US. Remember that antibiotics are mycotoxins, which can negatively influence our health, and added hormones can exacerbate existing fungal problems.

Shop for meat and animals products raised or sourced in the correct way.

For beef, bison, or lamb, this means shopping for grass-fed varieties. This also applies to butter or cheese products. For chicken, eggs, or turkey, this means shopping for pasture-raised varieties. For fish, this means shopping for wild-caught, sustainably sourced fish. These products are less likely to be contaminated mycotoxins, along with other contaminants.

The less processing, the better.

Many cured types of meat and deli meats are contaminated with preservatives or contain added sugar. These should be avoided in favor of minimally processed meats.