There’s nothing like a big, juicy steak next to a fluffy pile of mashed potatoes and perfectly seasoned vegetables. But since red meat has been so maligned, you may be wondering if it’s good for you. general health. The good news is that in moderation, lean cuts of steak are good for you, but there are people with certain conditions who should skip them altogether.
When most people eat fillet, your “body breaks it down and uses the components for its own purposes, like building muscle and making blood,” he explains Mike Bohl, MD, MPH, ALMDirector of Medical Content and Education at ro (health technology company) and member of our board of medical experts. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for everyone, he goes on to say, “On the not-so-beneficial side of things, steak is high in saturated fat, and regular consumption of red meat has been linked to high cholesterol, heart disease and cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.
Read on to find out if you are one of the 5 People Who Should Never Eat Steak.
And for more foods you might want to stay away from, take a look at The worst bread you should never eat, according to a dietician.
While most foods are fine to eat in moderation (for the most part), steak can affect people with sensitive stomachs. That’s because “gastrointestinal problems make it difficult to digest red meat,” says Dr. Bohl.
High amounts of protein and fatty foods, such as steak and red meat, take much longer to empty from the stomach. According to Geelong Medical GroupThe first sign of having this problem is intense bloating and discomfort, which is the result of excess toxins building up in the digestive tract.
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“The only people who should avoid steak altogether are those who have a short-term reaction, such as those with allergies,” explains Dr. Bohl. Sometimes eating a steak once in a while won’t cause any weird harm, but that’s not the case if you’re allergic.
Alpha-gal syndrome, discovered in recent years, is defined as an allergy to products made from mammals, especially cuts of red meat, Mayo Clinic reports. Although it is quite rare to have it, the allergy is like most, in that it appears within minutes of eating a bite of steak.
Allergy symptoms show up as hives, itchy and/or scaly skin (eczema), runny nose, headaches, wheezing or shortness of breath, stomach pain, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting, and swelling in parts of the body such as the lips, face, tongue and throat.
Steak and most red meats have much more saturated fat, he explains, which can pack on more LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in the blood and increase the body’s blood pressure. “People with diabetes are at increased risk of heart disease, so avoiding steak would prevent a further increase in your risk,” he suggests. Dr. Cedrina Calder, MDanother member of our expert medical council.
The American Diabetes Associated recommends taking total fat for a person with diabetes not to exceed 20 grams and an average 8-ounce steak contains about 19 grams of saturated fat. And considering that the probability of having high blood pressure doubles for someone with diabetes versus someone without diabetes, a big steak dinner should be on the menu as little (if at all) as possible.
Frequent steak eating can cause a number of health problems, but even more so for people who have certain genetics. Consume steak and other similar red meats”[have] has been associated with several types of cancer, especially colon cancer,” says Dr. Calder, “if you have a strong family history of colon cancer, it may be wise to avoid steak.”
There are certain compounds in steak and other red meat, according to researchers at The Cancer Institutethat cause “alkylating” damage and the possible formation of this cancer.
By Harvard Health, people who eat 5 ounces or more of steak (and/or red meat) a day increase their risk of developing colon cancer by 28%. That said, lean meats like chicken and fish have been considered disease preventatives when consumed long-term.
The best alternatives to red meat
Steak is undoubtedly tasty and if it falls into any of these categories it can be a tough pill to swallow and need to be eliminated or strictly limited from your diet. What if we told you that you have more options?
“Healthier red meat options include venison, wild boar and bison, which contain less saturated fat than beef,” explains Dr. Bohl. And “if you still want to eat beef, the leaner the cut, the better. Lean beef cuts include eye round, top round, bottom round, round tip, sirloin tip side and top sirloin”.
Having a substitute for red meat allows meat lovers to enjoy protein in a healthy and sustainable way for life.
