Going back to protein, what is it about red meat that doctors say is
bad for you?
A- Well you know fatty meats or red meats are typically higher in fat
and the fat is generally a higher saturated fat than say, poultry. It
would be the saturation of fat in the meat.

To make a blanket statement that red meat is bad for you would be
overkill. It certainly wouldn’t be healthy to base your diet on red
meat alone and consume unlimited amounts of saturated fat, but
then again we talked about the bioavailability of the protein
qualities and meat proteins in particular even though they may
contain higher levels of saturated fat have an extremely high
biological value.

That means that the protein in the meat is going to be absorbed in
the body much better than some other sources of protein. An
example would be the protein found in wheat flour or cake flour or
our bodies can’t always use bread that contains protein very well,
but the meat protein contains all the essential amino acids and can
be utilized by the body.

It comes down to an understanding of not throwing out the baby
with the bath water, if you eat a cut of good beef just be aware of
the amount of fat and balance it out the next day.

What are some of the other sources of protein?
A- Eggs are a tremendous source of protein. The egg white has an
abundance of all the right amino acids and is easily digested and
absorbed into the body. Egg whites may have the bioavailability of
100% because it is a reference protein. Meat protein is very close
to the egg protein as compared to some of the grain proteins. The
yolk contains quite a lot of fat but is also a good source of protein.
Last I heard about the literature was the egg or the yolk that
influenced the cholesterol level I am not sure that they ever came
to any conclusion. I have read studies that in clinical trials some
individuals have consumed a dozen eggs every day his cholesterol
level was fine or below normal and then there are other people who
seem to be predisposed to that kind of fat. Some people don’t have
any negative forms of fat as compared to others.

How about an all vegan diet, is it healthy?
A- Actually it is. There was a pretty significant study done that was
widely published. They tried to study the influence of consuming
alcohol and smoking and make a fair comparison. What I remember
from the study is that they concluded that if you were a vegetarian
you would live an average of seven years longer. There is something
to be said for it but it comes down to knowledge and balancing. You
have to be cautious when going to a vegetarian diet and
knowledgeable about it.

Like it’s harder to get the adequate amount of B vitamins on a
vegetarian diet and you have to know which foods to eat to get the
right amount of vitamins and minerals. So you have to be
knowledgeable when going into it.

__________________
Christopher Berry
Diabetic Discussion