Do men eat too much meat?

SALT LAKE CITY — The short answer is yes.

“It is true that men eat too much meat,” explained Dr. Richard Donaldson, a family doctor with CommonSpirit Health, “but some meats are healthier than others.”

You’ve probably heard this before — fish, chicken, nuts, yogurt — these are all healthier choices for protein.

“The real problem comes when we eat meat that is processed or not lean, and those foods can have other things in them that can be harmful,” Donaldson warned. “It’s not the protein in meat that causes problems. It’s actually the saturated fat and cholesterol that you get in the meat.”

We compound the problem with the way we cook meat.

“Think about that steak,” Donaldson described. “We salt it and butter it, and then we grill it. Grilling adds other chemicals to it that can be carcinogenic.”

Processed meat is even worse. 

“In processed foods like bacon and lunchmeats, they infuse those with carbohydrates, sugar and other additives like nitrates and preservatives,” Donaldson said. “Those chemicals are not healthy for us to consume in large quantities.”

How much meat is too much?

One hamburger a week or one 12-ounce steak a month is what is recommended.

“Most American men are consuming quite a bit more meat than is recommended by the dietary associations and the medical community in general,” Donaldson explained. “A serving size for protein is about the size of the palm of your hand – just a few ounces. If you’re eating multiple steaks a week or a lot of lunchmeat, that’s where it becomes less healthy. As with most things in our diet, we need to limit certain products and select healthier alternatives.”

So, how much protein do we actually need?

“We should get about 19% of our calories from protein sources,” Donaldson said. “You can get that with a fairly small amount of protein per day. You can get that with a yogurt and a small amount of meat or other protein, and you’re done.”

This is a gender specific problem.

“Men eat about 40 ounces of meat each week compared to 28-30 ounces for women,” Donaldson said.

Why is that? Are men just wired to crave meat? According to Donaldson, research shows men who are masculine and subscribe to masculine stereotypes are more likely to eat the most meat.

Cancer, heart and kidneys

Donaldson explained how too much meat, especially processed meat, can lead to heart issues and incidences of cancer. It can also cause problems for your kidneys.

“When you eat a lot of protein,” he explained, “it forces your kidneys to work overtime because your kidneys filter the protein out of the blood. Also, some of the chemicals you get with red meat are toxins that have to be filtered by the kidneys. It can also increase your risk of kidney stones and increase your risk for colon cancer.”

The doctor emphasized that there are healthy diets out there. “There is evidence that the Mediterranean diet can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke, and we’ve known for many years that the DASH diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) can also lower your risk of heart attack and stroke.”

Amanda Dickson is the co-host of Utah’s Morning News and A Woman’s View on KSL NewsRadio. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

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