Which is healthier, red meat or white meat?

Usually beef, mutton and pork are called red meat, while fish and poultry are called white meat. Red meat is characterized by coarse muscle fiber and high fat content, while white meat is characterized by fine muscle fiber, low fat content and high unsaturated fatty acid content in fat. Red meat and white meat have different effects on human chronic diseases. Recent epidemiological studies have found that people who eat red meat have an increased risk of chronic diseases such as colon cancer, breast cancer and coronary heart disease. Eating white meat can reduce the risk of these diseases and prolong life.

Analysis shows that people who eat more red meat are at higher risk of some diseases, mainly because red meat contains more fat and saturated fatty acids than white meat. Animal fat mainly provides energy. Excessive energy intake will increase the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases, and excessive intake of saturated fatty acids is the strongest factor leading to the increase of blood cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol.

The study found that compared with people who eat as little red meat as possible, people who eat refined red meat for ten years have a higher risk of colon cancer by 30% and rectal cancer by 40%. The study also found that the high-risk groups are those who eat more than 160 grams of red meat every day. People who love poultry and fish are 30% less likely to develop rectal cancer than those who eat less of these foods. Dr Daniel Berg, director of new york Cancer Center, pointed out that some fatty acids in fish can stimulate the action of enzymes in detoxification mechanism. White meat is better for most healthy people for the following reasons:

1. Red meat is more likely to cause increased blood lipids. Red meat contains a high proportion of saturated fatty acids and a low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. White meat contains more unsaturated fatty acids and less saturated fatty acids, so red meat is more likely to cause blood lipid imbalance and induce heart and brain diseases. 2. The content of heme iron in white meat is very low. Scientific experiments have proved that the higher the heme iron content in the diet, the greater the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, that is to say, eating too much red meat with high heme iron content is not conducive to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.