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There are people in this country eating too much red meat. They should cut back. There are people eating
too many carbs. They should cut back on those. There are also people eating too much fat, and the same
advice applies to them, too.
Whats getting harder to justify, though, is a focus on any one nutrient as a culprit for everyone.
Ive written Upshot articles on how the strong warnings against salt and cholesterol are not well supported
by evidence. But its possible that no food has been attacked as widely or as loudly in the past few decades
as red meat.
As with other bad guys in the food wars, the warnings against red meat are louder and more forceful than
they need to be.
Americans are more overweight and obese than they pretty much have ever been. Theres also no question
that we are eating more meat than in previous eras. But weve actually been reducing our red meat
consumption for the last decade or so. This hasnt led to a huge decrease in obesity rates or to arguments
from experts that it is the reason for fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease.
The same reports also show that we eat significantly more fruits and vegetables today than we did decades
that beef versus poultry and fish consumption didnt change cholesterol or triglyceride levels significantly.
All of this misses the bigger point, though. Its important to understand what too much really is. People
in the highest consumption group of red meat had one to two servings a day. The people in the lowest
group had about two servings per week. If youre eating multiple servings of red meat a day, then, yes, you
might want to cut back. I would wager that most people reading this arent eating that much. If you eat a
couple of servings a week, then youre most likely doing fine.
All the warnings appear to have made a difference in our eating habits. Americans are eating less red meat
today than any time since the 1970s. Doctors recommendations havent been ignored. Were also doing a
bit better in our consumption of vegetables. Our consumption of carbohydrates, like grains and sugar,
however, has been on the rise. This is, in part, a result of our obsession with avoiding fats and red meat.
Were eating too many calories, but not necessarily in the same way. Reducing what were eating too much
of in a balanced manner would seem like the most sensible approach.
Last fall, a meta-analysis of brand-name diet programs was published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association. The study compared the results from both the individual diets themselves and three
classes, which included low-carbohydrate (like Atkins), moderate macronutrient (Weight Watchers) and
low-fat (Ornish). All of the diets led to reduced caloric intake, and all of them led to weight loss at six
months and, to a lesser extent, at 12 months. There was no clear winner, nor any clear loser.
Where does that leave us? Its hard to find a take-home message better than this: The best diet is the one
that youre likely to keep. What isnt helpful is picking a nutritional culprit of bad health and proclaiming
that everyone else is eating wrong. Theres remarkably little evidence that thats true anytime anyone does
it.
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