As a health journalist, I’ve spent seven years researching the health woes of red meat and heavily processed meats. Recently, I decided to put the science to the test by incorporating both into my daily diet for a month. Here’s what happened.
I swapped at least one serving per day of my go-to proteins with red or more heavily processed meat from February 1 to February 28. This included steak, bacon, lamb, sausage, and ground beef. I made sure to mix each serving with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables to avoid extremes.
Before starting the experiment, I had borderline high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides. I also had low vitamin D levels due to winter weather. However, after a month of eating red meat daily, my LDL cholesterol decreased by 8%, and my triglycerides dropped by 33%. My HDL (good) cholesterol remained unchanged.
I did experience some mild effects like indigestion and bloating when consuming greasy meats. However, I didn’t notice any drastic changes in how I felt overall. The winter blues brain fog I’d been experiencing had dissipated slightly, which contradicts recent studies that link red and heavily processed meats to cognitive decline.
The experiment also got me trying new foods out of my comfort zone, like a “wall” of bacon appetizer and flank steak stir fry. However, by the end of the month, I was a little sick of red meat. My alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme in the liver and bile ducts, worsened slightly after the trial.
While my results were surprising, they don’t mean I’m going to completely overhaul my diet and give up chicken and fish. Instead, I’ll stick to adding more steak and sausage to my diet gradually, as it seems that red meat may not be the boogeymen I’ve been writing about for years.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14708701/I-ate-red-meat-eggs-day-month-against-advice-doctors-shocking-results.html