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For most of human history, meat has been an important component of the diet. Hunter-gatherer societies relied heavily on animal proteins, and in many cultures, meat is central to traditional dishes and culinary practices.

Humans and their hominin ancestors have been consuming meat for >3 million years (Mann, N.J. 2010. Meat in the human diet: an anthropological perspective. Nutr. Diet).

Early agricultural societies also placed high value on livestock, which provided not only meat but also milk, eggs, and labor. Meat has long been recognized for its nutritional benefits, providing high-quality protein, essential amino acids, iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and many other critical nutrients.

The Role of Meat in Our Evolution

Around 2 million years ago, there was a notable increase in hominid (ancestors of modern humans) brain size, coinciding with the incorporation of meat into the diet. This period, known as the “Meat-Eating Revolution,” marked a significant evolutionary shift.

Key Points:

1. Dietary Change: Hominids began incorporating meat into their diet, likely scavenging carcasses initially and later hunting. This change provided a rich source of nutrients, including protein, fat, iron, and essential vitamins like B12, that were crucial for brain development.
2. Nutritional Benefits: Meat consumption offered several advantages over a primarily plant-based diet. Animal proteins are more easily digestible and provide all essential amino acids needed for brain development. Additionally, meat is a concentrated source of energy and nutrients, allowing for smaller meal sizes and reduced time spent foraging.
3. Energy Allocation: With a more nutrient-dense diet, less energy was needed for digestion, freeing up metabolic resources that could be redirected towards brain growth and maintenance. This shift in energy allocation likely contributed to the expansion of brain size observed in hominids.
4. Cognitive Benefits: The increase in brain size was accompanied by cognitive advancements, such as improved problem-solving abilities, tool use, and social cooperation, which further facilitated hunting and meat procurement.

While all the historic evidence shows that dietary animal products have played a crucial role in what it is to be human, very recently on a historic timeline, drama brews..

Recent Public Demonization of Meat and Coinciding Meat Taboo

In the 1950s and 1960s, some new research began to suggest a link between dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, and heart disease. This was significantly influenced by Ancel Keys’ Seven Countries Study, which found a correlation between saturated fat intake and heart disease rates.

The study did not adequately control for other variables that could influence heart disease, such as sugar consumption, overall caloric intake, physical activity levels, and genetic factors. This lack of control makes it difficult to isolate the effect of saturated fat on heart disease.

Critics also argued that Keys omitted data from countries where high-fat diets were common, but heart disease rates were low, and vice versa. For example, countries like France and Switzerland, which had high dietary fat intake but low heart disease rates, were excluded, a phenomenon often referred to as the “French Paradox.”

Additionally, Keys did not select the countries randomly. Instead, he chose seven countries (the USA, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Japan) that he believed would support his hypothesis about dietary fat and heart disease. This selective sampling is criticized for introducing bias and not representing a comprehensive view of global dietary patterns and health outcomes.

Regardless of the various flaws, these findings led to the formulation of dietary guidelines that recommended reducing saturated fat intake, which implicitly affected the perception of meat as unhealthy due to its saturated fat content.

During this time, the sugar industry actively sought to influence scientific research and public opinion. A notable example is the Sugar Research Foundation (now the Sugar Association), which funded research that downplayed the risks of sugar while emphasizing the dangers of fat.

Early studies often did not separate the effects of saturated fat and sugar which were both consumed in high quantities, leading to misleading conclusions about the risks of saturated fat alone. Now of course we understand that table sugar on its own increases cardiovascular risk factors as well several types of cancers including colorectal.

Processed Meat Vs Unprocessed Meat

Processed Meats:

• Cancer Risk: Studies have shown that processed meats like bacon and sausages are linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
• Heart Disease: These meats are also associated with an increased risk of heart disease, likely due to their high sodium and preservative content.

Unprocessed Red Meats:

• Cancer and Heart Disease: In contrast, eating unprocessed red meats, like beef or lamb, in moderation doesn’t show the same significant health risks. Research indicates no strong link between moderate consumption of these meats and increased cancer or heart disease risks.

Now that we have clarified the current mis founded cultural taboos around meat as a natural food source, let’s get to the positive.

Important Highly Beneficial Nutritional Compounds Unique to Meat

1. CARNOSINE- Carnosine is a dipeptide (two amino acids bound together) that is only found in animal meats. Carnosine has been the subject of some very important anti aging studies, appearing to play a big role in longevity of mammals in studies. Carnosine, when consumed, makes its way into all of our cells and acts as a shield against cellular glycation. What is glycation?

Glycation is one of the four causes of cellular aging in humans which consist of

1. Glycation of cells

2. Inflammation of cells

3. Oxidation of cells

4. Faulty methylation of DNA and homocysteine

These are the main four factors that cause us to age, glycation, in specific, is the process of glucose becoming bound to proteins in your body which makes the affected cells unable to function properly. Glycated cells often fully lose their useful function permanently and this is a major part of what eventually leads us to dying of old age. Aging is a process of losing cells and cell function until the organism can no longer live.

This is where dietary meat consumption can aid in longevity by lending what is likely the most powerful anti glycation nutritional tool available to us in carnosine. Your body has evolved to thrive with protective nutritional mechanisms to shield your cells against onslaughts of daily metabolism! When you eat meat, your body absorbs the carnosine, which incorporates into your muscle, nerves, eyes, liver and even your brain to protect the tissues against glycation.

If you are only eating small amounts of meat then the you get a lower dose of carnosine. In this case the carnosine will be broken down into it’s 2 building blocks beta-alanine and histidine. This is not an issue as these will be absorbed and much of these same amino acids will simply be reassembled into carnosine inside your body where it can then be utilized in your tissues.

If you eat a large amount of steak that is rich and contains more than 1,000 mg of carnosine, then the first ~gram of carnosine will be broken down and absorbed in this same way while all the excess over 1 gram will be absorbed right into the bloodstream in it’s usable form without being broken down.

Carnosine can accumulate in various tissues throughout the body, particularly in muscles and the brain. However, its concentration tends to vary depending on factors such as diet, age, and overall health.

In terms of its retention time in tissues, carnosine has a relatively short half-life in the bloodstream, typically ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. However, once taken up by tissues, it can persist for longer periods, with studies suggesting that it may remain in muscle tissue for several hours to days.

The exact duration of carnosine’s presence in tissues can vary based on factors such as tissue turnover rates and metabolic processes. Additionally, regular consumption of carnosine-containing foods or supplements can contribute to its sustained presence in tissues over time.

It should be noted that supplementation of the amino acid beta-alanine alone has been studied (Zhao et al. 2023) to increase carnosine levels in humans as it is the rate limiting factor in constructing carnosine.

2. CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID (CLA)- Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a type of fatty acid found primarily in animal products such as meat and dairy.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) offers several potential health benefits, including:

1. Weight Management: CLA may aid in reducing body fat mass and improving body composition, particularly by targeting abdominal fat.
2. Muscle Growth: It has been suggested that CLA supplementation could promote lean muscle growth and enhance exercise performance.
3. Antioxidant Properties: CLA exhibits antioxidant effects, helping to combat oxidative stress and reduce inflammation in the body.
4. Cardiovascular Health: Some research suggests that CLA may support cardiovascular health by lowering levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing HDL cholesterol.
5. Immune Support: CLA has been shown to modulate immune function, potentially enhancing immune response and reducing inflammation.
6. Insulin Sensitivity: There is evidence to suggest that CLA may improve insulin sensitivity and help regulate blood sugar levels, which could be beneficial for individuals with diabetes or insulin resistance.
7. Bone Health: Preliminary studies indicate that CLA may contribute to bone health by promoting bone formation and reducing bone loss.
8. Cancer Prevention: CLA has been studied for its potential anticancer properties, with research suggesting it may inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells.

While CLA can be synthesized in the body from linoleic acid, the amounts produced are relatively small. Therefore, obtaining CLA from dietary sources, such as grass fed meat and dairy, ensures an adequate intake of this beneficial fatty acid.

Studies have shown that grass-fed animals tend to produce meat and dairy with higher CLA concentrations for several reasons:

1. Diet Composition: Grass-fed animals primarily consume pasture grasses, which are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA), the precursors to CLA synthesis in their digestive system. As a result, their meat and dairy products contain higher levels of CLA.
2. Rumen Fermentation: The microbial fermentation process in the rumen of grass-fed animals enhances the conversion of ALA and LA into CLA, leading to increased CLA concentrations in their tissues and milk.
3. Seasonal Variability: CLA content in grass-fed products can also vary seasonally, as the composition of pasture grasses changes throughout the year.

Research generally suggests that grass-fed meat and dairy can contain up to two to three times more CLA than their conventionally raised counterparts. Additionally, grass-fed products often have a more favorable ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids, further enhancing their nutritional profile.

Now let us take a look at one more extremely important meat derived nutrient that we can benefits from.

3. CREATINE- You have likely heard of creatine as an athletic supplement. Though it has an “athletic” reputation, creatine is extremely important to the health and vitality of the whole body. That includes your brain. To understand why, let us look into what it is and how it works in the body.

Creatine is a compound that occurs naturally in vertebrates and functions to supply energy to the cells of the body. It does this by fueling the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the direct fuel source of the human body.  As creatine is most concentrated in muscle tissue, muscle meat is the primary dietary source. So where do creatine health benefits lie?

Creatine makes you harder to kill- For TWO reasons.. 1. First, creatine is used by athletes because it is well studied (Rawson, Volek 2003) to increase the explosive forces of muscle contractions. This leads to sprinters sprinting faster, weight lifters lifting heavier weights for more reps and fighters hitting their opponents harder. It does not take much imagination to see how healthy creatine levels in your body can make you harder to kill. 2. Secondly, since it also fuels ATP and mitochondria in the brain, creatine makes you harder to kill by increasing your resistance to traumatic brain injury. This could mean less brain damage in a fist fight, car accident or even concussive explosions for soldiers. As creatine is a relatively affordable supplement, that is what I call getting your dollar’s worth.

Here is a link to some scientific literature on the topic of creatine for brain injury protection.

Creatine increases your cognitive ability- One study (Kaviani et al. 2020) showed that a group of vegans and vegetarians who consumed 5 grams of creatine a day for 6 weeks showed significant improvements and brain function (memory and intelligence). 

Why would creatine make you smarter? Well, remember how it fuels energy production in muscle? It does that very thing in your brain tissue, increasing its “power source”. The effects were noticeable because vegans are deficient in creatine. What does this tell us? It provides scientific evidence that vegans would become smarter if they ate some meat. Yea, I had a good laugh too… Anyways.

In studies, creatine-rich brain tissue is better able to maintain its structure against physical trauma due to the mitochondria of the brain cells functioning at a higher energy level. Also the brain will heal and “clean up” the injured areas at a higher efficiency after the traumatic brain injury. This is vital because if the healing stage goes wrong, the brain tissue can be damaged more during the following month than what damage was inflicted during the initial injury. After the brain injury, the body produces inflammation (remember, one of the four killers) to clean up and repair the site of the brain damage. With optimal creatine levels, the brain has more energy to clean and repair the brain properly and in a timely fashion.

So, our three most exclusive meat derived nutrients are carnosine, CLA and creatine. There are more to add to that list including vitamin B12, heme iron (much better absorption than plant iron) and of course it provides the most bioavailable and complete protein source of all. All of these nutrients are vital and/or extremely beneficial to optimal health.

In Summary

Meat steak has been with us and a part of us since before the dawn of man. Don’t buy into the corrupted fear mongering meat taboo that was a result of the crooked sugar industries desperate attempts to stay profitable while killing millions of their own customers.

Be free of worry, enjoy natural grass fed meats consistently and with consistent moderation, as with all good things.