How Bad Is Red Meat For You, Really

Grilled, fried, or rare, whole, sliced, or massaged and beer-fed, Americans love a good steak

But with a red meat scare on the rise, many steakhouse regulars face grave concerns

Is chowing down on all that beef truly unhealthy? Or has steak simply been slandered for the last few decades

Well, today, we're firing up the pan to find out whether or not red meat is really bad for you

Alright, save the A1 until the end. Get it? For nearly 100 years, red meat steaks have been a staple of the all-American diet

From a hearty breakfast to a classy dinner on the town, pan-fried in the kitchen or tossed down on the grill

In the States, steaks are a meal as old as time. But in recent decades, the beef-based steak has become something of a scapegoat for heart disease, obesity, and any number of chronic health conundrums

Whether we're fearing for our waistline or getting a bad bill from a health specialist

red meat is often seen as the culprit for our woes. And with plenty of fancy diet plans to dissuade one from potentially carcinogenic foodstuffs

and all that hard data on saturated fats leading to problems like heart attacks and strokes

many people simply stop seeking out steaks. In fact, the popularity and overall consumption of steaks has fluctuated in the states and across the globe

due to the potential problems of red meat-rich diets. But when did this tumultuous love affair start

And how does steak keep getting such a bad rap while never really going out of style

A steak, or thick cuts of meat and muscle, have been a staple of human diets since the dawn of man

When referenced, steaks often imply the red meat of beef specifically and can be prepared over high heat in any number of ways

but steak as we know it today has direct origins in Scandinavia of the 1400s

Historical records show that thick cuts from the hindquarters of livestock in game

were referred to as steek, stykna, and stekta. Then in 1565, Florentines experiencing the Renaissance

began celebrating a particularly gruesome death of a martyr. St. Lawrence Day, held on August 10th, honors a Roman who was supposedly grilled to death

In remembrance of his charred remains, patrons cooked up enormous feasts of sliced meat on open ranges

Originally called bistecca in the native tongue, English merchants were said to have translated the dish to beefsteak, or steak for short, by the late 1600s

London saw a boom in local eateries known as chop houses, featuring warm meals for hungry workers

These restaurants served just about anything they could scrounge up. Oftentimes, that included slabs of cooked beef or proto-steaks

And eventually the English chop house became the sort of fine dining steakhouse we see today Across the oceans many Asian cultures were more reluctant to accept beef as a dietary staple In fact it was not until a Japanese emperor began professing

his love for red meat that his countrymen took up steaks as well. In fact, the famously well-tended

and occasionally beer-fed Kobe and Wagyu beef cattle of Japan have only been around for a handful

of generations. But over in the United States, steaks were as big as the Texas sky. Because when

Spanish colonists brought cattle to the Americas, they had no idea what they had unleashed on our

pallets or our fat intake. And as commercial train transportation took off, the rustic cowboy

ranches of the West brought their beefy wares across the entire country. After that, it was

steak all the way down for most of America. From the first dining steakhouses of the 1800s

to quick and cheap cheesesteaks in the Great Depression, the United States proved they had a serious hankering for red meat

After the brutal disparity of the Great Depression and the harrowing effects of World War II

American families found themselves in a new world. With suburban lifestyles on the come up

more cash and comfortability, and a whole baby boom of mouths to feed

Red meat became a staple for many families. Throughout the 1950s, steak had become part of the American middle-class identity

with references on newly popular TV programs like Leave It to Beaver

The Flintstones, and The Honeymooners. The image of dad coming home from a long day of work to a big steak dinner

became ubiquitous with Americana. Mom, pops, the two kids, and a big juicy porterhouse

In some ways, steak is almost the fifth member of the nuclear family

Unless you're living with Jetsons, of course. Wait, were they literally nuclear

In part, this newfound fascination with tenderloin and tomahawks came from popular media

long seen as a food on the range. Cowboy culture could not have been more popular for pre-space age adults and kids

And as veterans of multiple wars and economic crises, many Americans were simply tired of eating scraps

With expanding markets and Americans having more cash in their pockets than ever before

families chose to splurge on food in ways previously unheard of. Throw in some heavy superfood propaganda from big beef industry heads

and you've got a recipe for an all-out steak fest. So when exactly did the red tides turn for meat medical advice

Perhaps the dawn of healthy eating in the 1970s holds some answers

Because prior to the summer of love, diets were less than desirable

From disgusting recipe books to downright dangerous dieting drugs, those seeking a smaller waste were often relocated to black coffee

and over-the-counter remedies you typically find at a gas station. But when the 70s came around everything got a lot more green With organic food culture on the rise exercise trends in fitness centers in bloom and rapidly expanding medical knowledge about nutrition

healthy eating began to resemble what it is today. Even as steakhouses began springing up

all across the states, Americans began taking their health more seriously for the first time

And with the added impact of an actual shortage, steaks simply lost their luster

In 1972, steaks were almost wiped off the meat counter entirely due to a suffering anchovy population off the coast of South America

Struggling farmers were forced to switch their fishy cattle feed for more costly options

And for every action down on the farm, there is a reaction up at the supermarket

This led to sky-high beef prices aimed at a newly health-conscious America

where before their daily steak and eggs cost a nickel and some heartburn

Suddenly, a trip to the steakhouse cost a fortune and came saddled with well-known side effects

By the time beef prices came back to Earth, Americans were experiencing an economic boom

throughout the 1980s. And although they had plenty of jazzercise tapes and medical advice

to dissuade them from regularly dining on red meat, many yuppies and blue-collar diners returned

to the strip. But when a beefy epidemic hit the Brits by the early 90s, filet mignons once again

went out the window. Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encelopathy

is a fatal degenerative disease which occurs after ingesting afflicted meat. Thought to

originate by feeding cattle meat and bone meal, an outbreak of the disease would go on to claim

over 200 victims worldwide throughout the 1990s. And when word of the sickness spread through the

media, meat eaters truly had a cow. After this low point, the beef industry suffered more blows

at the hands of health organizations. As Americans began falling victim to heart-related diseases at

an alarming rate, doctors and specialist communities took note. In fact, both heart

attacks and strokes were among the leading causes of death in America at the time

and they remain so to this day. By beginning health campaigns like the Million Hearts

doctors and political advocates hoped to address the red meat epidemic. Big pork and big chicken didn't stand idly by when they smelled blood in the water either

But while those industries have certainly led some questionable campaigns against their red meat competitors

major competitors like Chick-fil-A and Tyson simply used hard facts as ammunition

By repeating the healthier benefits of their products to potential customers, Both white meat and the other white meat got a big push in American dining

In fact, from nuggets to rotisserie, U.S. consumers eat more poultry today than ever before

In recent years, the environmental impact of commercial cattle farming has come into question

Our appetite for steak has led to the planet being saddled with more cows than were ever meant to exist at the same time Why is that a problem Cattle are notorious for creating excess greenhouse gases which they regularly expel via the well you know The methane emitted from the behinds of so

many cows has had a measurable effect on the atmosphere, similar to the pollution created

by other industries. Add to that the harmful deforestation of large-scale cattle farms

extensive grazing, water pollution from waste runoff, and harmful feeding practices. And you may begin to wonder whether one of the tastiest meals imaginable is more risk than reward

Either way, things are looking pretty grim for our bovine friends. So, how bad is steak for you, really

Well, hard facts and raw data do our favorite dish no favors

To be certain, experts agree that there is crystal clear evidence of red meat's link to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a shorter lifespan

In fact, the data is so pronounced, doctors have no difficulty in spelling it out to steak skeptics

Research across generations, studies from every corner of the globe, and mountains and mountains of literal heartache have made the negative impact of a heavy red meat diet impossible to ignore

Perhaps most damning of all is the evidence that non-red meat eaters simply live longer lives

Unfortunately, for every obnoxious diet guru out there is most likely going to enjoy a longer lifespan to boot

It's difficult news to hear. But it's not all doom and gloom at the steakhouse

For starters, most specialists agree that two to three weekly servings of red meat is perfectly fine

Anything more than that, and one risks taking the old ticker to the limit

But it's equally important for steak fans to keep their portions under control

While a bedrock-sized tomahawk steak might be fun for a night out

doctors suggest treating steak as more of a side and less of a main course

Also, unprocessed red meat is a protein powerhouse that does have its fair share of health benefits

Just three ounces of steak can make up nearly half the amount of protein a body needs per day

With nearly as much vitamin B12 necessary for creating red blood cells

a slab of steak packs one heck of a punch. Add to that a hefty source of zinc, iron, and antioxidants

and red meat starts looking pretty beneficial. While you can get the same nutrients through any number of healthier options, such as oysters

there's no getting around the fact that steak is simply too delicious to be removed from the menu entirely

The environmental impact may be improving as well. Methane production is a smelly fact of life when it comes to cattle farming

and on a worldwide scale, it only gets gassier. But with less harmful farming methods, more responsible land management

and newly developed feed additives to reduce methane-heavy rear expulsions, things are smelling a little fresher

There may be greener pastures to come, just don't get attached to any of the cows in them