Any downsides of not eating red meat?

According to this article, eating red meat in small amounts is fine if the rest of a person’s diet is health promoting.

However, I haven’t had any red meat for the past three months. Instead, I’ve been eating legumes, fish, and chicken breast to meet my protein requirements. I was wondering if there will be any negative effects in the long term if I continue to not eat any red meat at all because I read an article a while ago claiming that red meat is associated with increased happiness. Other articles also mention that red meat results in more dietary satisfaction, which is an important metric in measuring quality of life.

So far, nothing about my happiness level changed. In fact, I’m quite happier because I spend less money, and we don’t typically consume red meat in my culture.

I would appreciate your insight on this matter. Thanks!

While I think that red meat (or meat in general) can be part of a health-promoting dietary pattern, I do not think that red meat (or meat in general) is uniquely health promoting.

I would not predict “happiness” to change reliably with any particular type of food consumption, as happiness (however this is measured) is likely to be individualized. Of course, someone who enjoys eating red meat probably won’t like a red meat free diet, but that doesn’t mean it makes everyone “unhappy”.

Tl;dr : I do not think people need to eat meat at all to maximize health. This is especially true of red meat. Personal dietary preferences are important.

2 Likes

Thanks, Jordan. I was spending too much time on controversial websites advocating for meat consumption. Now that everything is clear, I’m not going to stress about my meat eating habits from now.

Yea, I hear you. It’s tough out there!

1 Like