I am no proponent of vegetarianism; however, as a dietician, I always make it a point to advice people not to eat beef. Now, you might be wondering why you should not eat beef – is it a personal bias or there truly is any reasoning behind it…. Well, I have answered all these quandaries and more in this blog post. So please read on and find out about health risks of eating beef…                                                                                                        

Though, beef is an excellent source of protein and rich in many other nutrients, eating beef has several unpleasant health risks and dangerous side effects involved. Several studies have proved that regular consumption of beef can lead a range of health problems that can potentially reduce the overall lifespan of a human being ¹. Beef is known to increase the risks of bowel cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and high blood cholesterol levels, which in turn leads to heart disease.                                                                         

Now, ardent fans of beef will argue that humans were “made to eat meat,” our teeth structure, digestive system, etc. are designed for eating meat. That might have been true several years ago, when the meat available in the market was pure rancher’s meat and the livestock were raised the natural way. Sadly, this is rarely the case today; most of the beef that we get in the stores are “feedlot” beef products. The “feedlot” cattle are grown on a diet filled with antibiotics, growth hormones, and unnatural feeds comprising of grains and animal byproducts among other things ².                                                                                                                                      

As if the inherent health risks of beef were not enough, eating feedlot beef can expose you to a range of debilitating conditions including the mad cow disease, E.coli infections, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and beef tapeworm infection, to name just a few.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

In fact, according to a recent newsletter, almost 8,500 pounds of ground beef was recalled from the US market due to possible E.coli contamination. Unfortunately, 3 people had already fallen sick much before this action could be taken. Even more alarming is the fact that this was not a one off incident and contaminated beef has made its way into the stores many times before. Thus, you can never be sure of the quality of beef that you are consuming.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Now, if these were not good enough reasons for you to stop eating beef, do consider the fact that the American Dietetic Association has recently announced that a beef free diet can significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in later life. Hence, for the sake of your health and your family’s health, I recommend you to avoid eating beef.                                                                                                                                                              

Image credits: all-creatures.org, healthhabits.ca