Abate De Animais, Você Financia Isso?

[Aless]

Oi Matheus,

Desculpa a demora em responder, eu simplismente ignoro estudos observacionais que não tenham nenhum backup de estudos de laboratório devido à quantidade gigantesca de erros que já foram cometidos nos últimos 50 anos. Eu na verdade nem ia responder porque precisaria fazer uma compilação de estudos e eu não queria procurar nada sobre isso, especialmente devido à quantidade gigantesca de sensacionalismo que achamos por aí. Mas... lendo um livro do Lyle, ele faz um review sobre isso que eu achei interessante compartilhar:

A large meat intake, especially red meat, is often claimed to be involved in the

development of a number of diseases, especially heart disease and colon cancer. A great

deal of this research is based on observational work where individuals consuming a meatbased

diet are more likely to get such diseases. As well, there is ample evidence to suggest

health benefits with vegetarian diets (12).

However, as w i t h the protein and bone health issue, you can't simply isolate protein/meat

intake from other aspects of the diet. This is important when looking at the research as

most of it tends to be epidemiological in nature, that is it looks at large populations of

individuals and tries to draws correlations between different measured variables. This can

lead researchers to draw incorrect conclusions.

For example, modern meat based diets are also typically very high in fat with typical cuts

of red meat being high in saturated fat, a known risk factor for various diseases. In

contrast, lean red meats, trimmed of visible fat, have a drastically different impact on the

risk of cardiac disease (13). As well, unprocessed lean red meat doesn't increase markers of

inflammation or oxidation (14). In addition to potential cancer promoting factors, meat

also contains a number of cancer preventing factors (15). Replacement of carbohydrate

w i t h lean red meat has also been shown to lower of blood pressure (16). The key here, of

course, is that lean red meat, as opposed to the fattier cuts commonly consumed were

studied.

Diets high in meat are often low in fruits and vegetables (meaning a low intake of

important micronutrients as well as fiber) and research suggests that it is the lack of those

foods (fruits, vegetables) more so than the presence of red meat that is responsible for any

increased cancer risk (17). High fat intakes have also been associated with low food

variety and low intakes of fruits and vegetables (18); this would further contribute to the

apparent l i n k between consuming fatty meat and health risk.

Put differently, there is going to be a fairly large difference in the overall impact of a diet

that is high in animal protein, high in fat, low in fruits and vegetables (and thus low in

fiber and other important nutrients) which may be accompanied with other health risks

such as inactivity, being obese, etc. This would be held in complete contrast to an athletic

diet containing large amounts of lean meats along with a large fruit and vegetable intake,

high levels of activity, maintenance of a low level of body fat, etc.

As I mentioned above w i t h regards to bone health any diet high in animal protein must be

accompanied by a high intake of fruits and vegetables. As well, leaner cuts of meat

(especially red meat) should be chosen whenever possible.

Summary

A number of health risks have been attributed to the consumption of high protein intakes,

this includes potential problems with the kidneys, bone health, metabolic acidosis and

certain types of cancers. For the most part, these risks tend to be extremely overstated.

While high protein intakes may cause problems when there is pre-existing kidney disease,

no research suggests that high protein intakes cause kidney damage. While there is

potential for high protein intakes to cause body calcium loss, this appears to only occur

when calcium intake is insufficient in the first place; high protein intakes with high

calcium intakes improves bone health. Ensuring sufficient vegetable intake along with a

high protein intake is a key aspect not only to bone health but to preventing a small

metabolic acidosis which may occur when large amounts of protein are consumed by

themselves.

Concerns over heart disease and cancer are more related to the high fat content of many

cuts of meat, along w i th other nutritional factors such as insufficient fruit and vegetable

intake that contributes. Other lifestyle factors that typically accompany the consumption

of higher fat cuts of meat are also a likely contributor to the overall health risk. The

consumption of lean cuts of meat has actually been shown to improve overall health; b o th

athletic and diets for general health should ideally contain plenty of fruits and vegetables

for this reason.