Should I eat steak / red meat?

Our read is that red meat offers several beneficial nutrients and may improve certain health markers, with some experts suggesting it is safe and good for humans.

However, other experts associate red meat consumption with increased risks for various cancers, type-2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality.

The debate is further complicated by discussions around the quality of evidence, confounding factors in studies, and the relevance of in vitro findings to human dietary intake.

• 01Paul Saladino states that red meat is good for humans and is safe to eat (2x).
• 02Paul Saladino notes that higher intakes of red meat are protective for sperm health due to essential micronutrients (1x).
• 03Paul Saladino indicates that consuming beef provides low omega-6 intake and high carnosine to neutralize residual HNE damage (3x).
• 04Paul Saladino highlights that red meat is a good source of taurine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, hydroxyproline, and carnitine, nutrients that may improve human longevity (2x).
• 05Paul Saladino mentions an interventional study showing that replacing carbohydrates with an extra half pound of meat per day for eight weeks lowered F2-isoprostane excretion and leukocyte counts (3x).
• 06Paul Saladino suggests that consuming calcium-rich dairy products with red meat can mitigate iron absorption, which may be beneficial for individuals who avidly absorb iron and monitor their ferritin levels (1x).
• 07Paul Saladino points out that eating processed foods that cause a significant insulin spike and then sitting sedentary has greater negative effects than eating steak, which does not cause a large insulin spike (1x).
• 08Paul Saladino notes that NFL player Taylor Rap eats steak, bananas, oranges, mangoes, and honey as a pre-game meal 3-4 hours before playing (1x).
• 09Andrew Huberman states that higher fiber intake is consistently associated with improvements in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality risk (1x).
• 10Bryan Johnson suggests that foods like vegetables, legumes, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, berries, and seeds have more robust evidence for longevity, fewer downsides, and better risk-profiles than red meat (1x).

Bryan Johnson warns that one additional daily serving of red meat is associated with a 13% increase in all-cause mortality risk, and processed red meat increases this risk by 20% (2x). He also states that higher red meat consumption is associated with increased risk rates for several cancers, including lung (+26%), endometrial (+25%), rectal (+22%), liver (+22%), colon (+17%), and breast (+9%) (1x). Bryan Johnson also notes that red meat consumption increases the risk of type-2 diabetes, with one daily serving of unprocessed red meat associated with a 12% risk increase and processed red meat with a 32% risk increase (2x). He advises that consuming large daily quantities of red meat can be dangerous and lead to serious conditions like bowel cancer or heart disease (1x). Andrew Huberman states that increased consumption of red meat is associated with poorer embryo development, worse IVF outcomes, and increased staging of endometriosis (1x). Paul Saladino frequently argues that the classification of red meat as a probable carcinogen is based on weak evidence with limited statistically significant associations (7x), and that the IARC WHO report on red meat and cancer is inconclusive and lacking (6x). He also suggests that epidemiological studies on red meat and health outcomes can be misleading due to confounding factors (2x), and that observational epidemiology associating red meat consumption with increased cancer risk in men may be confounded by unhealthy user bias (2x). Paul Saladino also states that the claim that red meat is inflammatory and harmful due to specific compounds is not well-substantiated by current evidence for typical human dietary intake (2x).

More evidence is needed to support limiting red meat intake, as Rhonda Patrick suggests (1x). Bryan Johnson recommends regular biomarker measurements to ensure red meat consumption is not causing irreparable damage (2x). Paul Saladino notes that the unhealthy user bias suggests that individuals who disregard mainstream health advice and consume red meat may also engage in other risky behaviors (10x).