Doesn’t the photo of that beef look amazing? I just had to say that before I started. I’d love a slice of that.
You have most probably seen this study that just came out showing that eating red meat is going to kill you, eventually. Having read the numerous alarmist articles published on the topic, I thought it is my duty to say something, since so many media outlets have started going crazy for this piece of news. Here’s the link to the article by The Telegraph.
I don’t know how this rubbish is even considered a study. What the researchers did was survey 100,000 people over a period of 28 years, asking them every 4 years about their diet and lifestyle. Asking them? So, the study wasn’t a double blind, laboratory based study? Already, I’m skeptical. Many issues are known to happen with survey studies. Namely, people lie in surveys. They do! I know I have…
OK, but putting that aside. Let’s look at this line from the Telegraph:
Small quantities of processed meat such as bacon, sausages or salami can increase the likelihood of dying early by a fifth, researchers from Harvard School of Medicine found. Eating steak increases the risk of early death by 12%.
After a single bear wandering into town has drawn an over-reaction from the residents of Springfield, Homer stands outside his house and muses, “Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol is working like a charm!”
Lisa sees through his reasoning: “That’s specious reasoning, dad.” Homer, misunderstanding the word “specious”, thanks her for the compliment.
Optimistically, she tries to explain the error in his argument: “By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.” Homer is confused: “Hmm; how does it work?” Lisa: “It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock!” Homer: “Uh-huh.” Lisa: “… but I don’t see any tigers around, do you?”
Homer, after a moment’s thought: “Lisa, I want to buy your rock…”
Scientists added that people who eat a diet high in red meat were also likely to be generally unhealthier because they were more likely to smoke, be overweight and not exercise.
3 comments
All those studies are so poorly designed. The sad thing is that people believe in them. Even worse, they don’t bother reading the studies but just the newspaper heading. Apparently a good study comparing clean traditional diets is on its way (Robb Wolf has mentioned it). Fingers crossed.
Great summary! I’ve just discovered your blog and really enjoying reading it. I’m also going through a middle-eastern ‘phase’ with my cooking at the moment so am also busy raiding your food-blog links! Thanks!
This is not something new to me; you did a good job by taking an interesting approach that you mentioned some of the scientific research does not even make sense, such as low cholesterol will increase risk of early death. I will not change my eating habit because the media released some information that red meat leads to early death. There are too many rules and news about eating habits. If I believe in all of the news, I would probably be starved to death. I tend to eat chicken and seafood more often than red meat because I think red meat has more fat in it and I am on a strict diet now.