Over the years, information on the relationship between diet and health has continued to evolve. The risks associated with some health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and even some types of cancer can be reduced or controlled through dietary changes and lifestyle modifications. While meat has always been recognized as a great source of protein, the overall impact of meat consumption on health and disease has been and still is a controversial topic.

Meat consumption and cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer are two of the most debated and discussed diet health relationships. The role of meat in cardiovascular disease has been debated for decades. Years ago, dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of heart disease focused on reducing lipid intake, especially saturated fatty acids, which was often interpreted as a need to reduce meat intake. However, other dietary risk factors, such as increased intakes of refined carbohydrates, likely play a more significant role in heart disease than meat consumption. In fact, in some studies lean meat intake lowered total cholesterol, and diets with higher amounts of protein can be more effective for weight loss and/or weight management. Some epidemiological studies have associated fat consumption to causing certain cancers, however, the role of individual foods in causing cancer is still not fully understood. Investigating the relationship between diet and cancer, or any other disease, is very difficult because people do not consume only one food, and there are many confounding factors, including genetic predisposition, environment, body weight, health care, physical activity, and lifestyle differences.

Consumer health quest

While the relationship between health and diet is complex, consumers continue to look for foods that will improve their health. New terms like functional foods and nutraceuticals are being used to market foods that are proven or perceived to have added health benefits. In the 1980s, the Japanese government classified foods with benefits beyond basic nutrition as “functional foods.” These foods are considered “highly nutritious” and provide health benefits, such as promoting proper growth and development or protecting against diseases.

Nutraceutical is a term typically used to describe a food that has been fortified or a dietary supplement with benefits beyond its basic nutritional value. Nutraceuticals are sometimes defined as commodities that are derived from foods but taken in the form of capsules, pills, or liquids. Health conscious individuals often seek these foods or compounds to maintain optimal health and reduce the risk of long-term health consequences.

Many of the health-enhancing compounds are associated with foods from plants, such as flavonoids in blueberries, carotenoids in tomatoes, or polyphenols and lignans from whole grains. Additionally, omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and other fatty fish, and probiotics in fermented dairy products have also been recognized as providing specific health benefits.

Meat-based benefits

Meat has also been identified as a functional food, because it provides a good source of naturally occurring physiological bioactive compounds that can provide additional physiological functions. As stated earlier, lean meat is a good source of protein, but from a functional standpoint the proteins provided from red meat have been shown to contribute to weight loss and to reducing blood pressure.

Research by Guoyao Wu, PhD, distinguished professor at Texas A&M University, supports that beef has functional compounds that optimize growth, development, and health. Wu reports that beef provides all proteinogenic amino acids, as well as taurine and α-alanine. A recent article published in Science reported that “taurine could be an elixir of life.” Taurine is both an amino acid and an antioxidant that has been shown to have positive impacts on eye health, the heart, brain, and immune system. Carnosine and anserine, two of the most abundant antioxidants found in beef, pork, and lamb, are associated with improved fatigue recovery and wound healing. Carnosine is also being evaluated to determine if it helps reduce cognitive decline in the elderly. Wu notes that taurine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, and 4-hydroxyproline are all found in beef and may help prevent obesity, inhibit tumorigenesis, and improve bone and skin health.

Another compound of interest as a functional food component is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is a group of polyunsaturated fatty acids with double-bonds commonly located between carbons 8 and 13 in a cis or trans configuration. Two of the most common, cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12 occur naturally in ruminant meats, such as beef and lamb. CLAs are reported to have multiple health benefits, such as promoting weight loss, improving cardiovascular health, and having anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, and antidiabetogenic properties.

While many of the bioactive compounds discussed above occur naturally in meat, there could be opportunities to change meat’s composition of protein, fat, fatty acid composition, and other nutrients. Research has shown that the nutritional value of meat can be changed through genetic and/or dietary manipulation of livestock, which could increase the naturally occurring compounds. Processed meat products could be formulated to enhance compounds, reduced fat content, or target specific fatty acid profiles.

We know that many meat and meat products have been criticized for fat content, saturated fatty acid profiles, and cholesterol content. However, there are still unanswered questions on the roles that individual nutrients play in the relationship between diet and health. By looking more closely at individual compounds, such as specific amino acids or fatty acids, meat and meat products may have health promoting and disease preventing compounds, which will further support the inclusion of meat in a healthful diet.