Meat has long been a regular part of the human diet. Its impact on health is now receiving increasing attention. Excessive consumption of red meat is often linked to cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.
These associations have influenced both dietary recommendations and people’s understanding of healthy eating. Judging by media headlines alone, it can seem that the less meat you eat, the better. However, viewing meat solely as a potential health risk overlooks why it came to occupy such an important place in the human diet in the first place.
What does meat provide for the body?
When discussing the health effects of meat, the conversation quickly turns to saturated fat and cholesterol. But what gets left out of this discussion? Often, some of the most essential micronutrients the body actually needs.
Meat contains a wide range of compounds the body needs, including essential amino acids, vitamin B₁₂, iron, zinc and several other nutrients. What matters is not only how much of a nutrient a food contains, but also how much the body can absorb during digestion.
Is there anything special about the protein in meat?
Proteins are made up of amino acids. The body can produce some of them itself, while others must come from food. Those the body cannot produce are known as essential amino acids.
The muscle proteins in chicken, beef, pork and lamb contain all nine essential amino acids. Why are they needed? The body constantly uses them to repair tissues and produce enzymes, hormones and immune system antibodies.
This does not mean that you cannot get all the amino acids you need from plant-based foods. It is entirely possible, but leaving meat out of your diet requires more careful planning and greater variety to ensure that you get enough protein and all the essential amino acids.
Which nutrients may be missing if you cut out meat?
Vitamin B₁₂ – the nervous system and blood formation. It is needed for the normal function of the nervous system and red blood cells.
Iron – oxygen transport. Iron is needed by haemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and muscles. When iron stores decline, exercise may suddenly feel harder and your heart rate may rise faster than usual.
Zinc – recovery and the immune system. Zinc is needed for protein synthesis, tissue repair and immune system function. It is readily available to the body from animal-based foods.
Nutritional value is not only about the amount of nutrients, but also their bioavailability.
Heme and non-heme iron
Spinach, lentils and beef all contain iron, but the body does not absorb it in the same way. The reason is simple: food contains iron in two different forms, heme and non-heme.
Heme iron is found in animal tissues, such as beef and liver. The body absorbs it more efficiently, and its absorption is less affected by the other foods in the same meal.
Non-heme iron is found mainly in plant-based foods. Its absorption depends more on what you eat or drink at the same time. Vitamin C, for example, helps the body absorb non-heme iron, while phytates found in plants can reduce its absorption.
Plant-based iron is by no means useless, but the amount of iron a food contains and the amount the body actually absorbs are not always the same.
Meat and health risks – what does the research show?
First, what kind of meat product are we talking about?
Headlines may simply refer to meat, but that single word can cover everything from minced meat and beef steak to sausages and frankfurters. From a nutritional perspective, these are not the same thing.
Unprocessed red meat includes beef, pork and lamb that has not been salted, smoked or fermented for preservation. Processed meat includes frankfurters, sausages, bacon and ham. These products often contain more salt and compounds formed during processing that are not present in fresh meat in the same form.
When a study discusses the health risks of meat, the first thing to check is what kind of meat was actually studied.
Is a frankfurter really as dangerous as a cigarette?
In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Tobacco and asbestos also belong to this group, which quickly prompted headlines that could give the impression that a slice of ham was comparable to a cigarette.
However, that is not what this classification actually means. Group 1 indicates that there is sufficient evidence that a substance or product can cause cancer. It does not indicate the size of the risk or how strongly carcinogenic something is.
According to the IARC, eating 50 grams of processed meat every day was associated with an approximately 18% increase in the relative risk of colorectal cancer (International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC], 2018). This does not mean that a single 50-gram serving would immediately increase an individual’s risk by 18%, or that 18% of people who eat meat would develop cancer. It refers to a difference in relative risk associated with long-term, regular consumption.
What about unprocessed red meat?
The research findings are less clear in this case. An analysis published in Nature Medicine in 2022 found only a weak association between unprocessed red meat and ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer (Lescinsky et al., 2022). A weak association does not mean that there is no possible risk, but rather that the available research does not allow us to be certain of its magnitude.
Most of these findings also come from observational studies. Researchers track what people eat and which diseases they later develop. This type of study can reveal an association, but it cannot always prove that meat itself caused the disease. Physical activity, smoking, body weight and the rest of a person’s diet also come into play.
An association can be an important clue, but it is not yet proof of direct causation.
The outcome also depends on what replaces the meat. Replacing beef with fish, nuts or legumes does not produce the same result as replacing it with French fries or refined carbohydrates.
Risks depend on the amount, type and frequency of consumption
The health effects of any food cannot be assessed without considering the amount consumed and the rest of the diet. Even foods generally considered healthy are not meant to be eaten in unlimited quantities. If one food begins to make up too much of the diet, it may crowd out other necessary food groups and nutrients.
This does not make all foods equally risky, but it does show why an individual food cannot always be labelled healthy or harmful regardless of how much or how often it is eaten.
What should you take away from this?
The body does not specifically need beef, chicken or pork. It needs the amino acids, iron, zinc, vitamin B₁₂ and other nutrients these foods contain.
These can also be obtained through a carefully planned plant-based diet, fortified products and supplements when necessary. This is entirely possible, but it requires a more varied and deliberately planned diet.
My aim here was to show that meat is a nutrient-dense food that should not be underestimated, and that removing it from the diet always requires carefully considered replacements.
It is also worth choosing unprocessed meat, because a fresh cut of meat and a frankfurter are not nutritionally equivalent. Unprocessed meat provides high-quality protein, heme iron, vitamin B₁₂ and zinc in one food, supporting both the body’s everyday functions and recovery from exercise. Getting enough of these nutrients is especially important for active people, whose bodies must cope with greater physical demands.
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