Is It Healthy To Have A Meat-Based Diet?

For some people, eating vegetables is a dreadful chore and they would rather not eat if they could. Despite the number of benefits that vegetable provides, it doesn’t seem to be a strong enticing point for some people to consume them. Today, we will find out if it is possible to stay healthy with a meat-based diet.

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Before, we delve right into it, let me explain what a meat-based diet is so that we are all on the same page. Meat-based diet or also known as Carnivore diet refers to consuming entirely of meat and animal products only. (YES, this means no fruits or vegetables) The meat that they consume can be any meat-based product from chicken, lamb, beef, fish and many more.

Benefits of A Meat-Based Diet

As crazy as it sounds, there are some perks for having a meat-based diet. When you are solely consuming meat, carbs (which are often found in soda, cakes, candies etc.) are eliminated from your diet. These foods have low beneficial nutrients in them and are high in calories. However, this doesn’t mean that you should eliminate carbs from your diet! Carbs are essential for proper body functioning and your body needs a large quantity of them. Ideally, you want to minimize the consumption of high sugar and carb products but consume high fiber carb at smaller intakes.

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Downsides of A Meat-Based Diet

High in fat, cholesterol, and sodium

For starters, there are two kinds of cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). They both functions differently where HDL is known for being “good” as it helps to protect the narrowing of the blood vessels while LDL is “bad” as it makes arterial narrowing worse.

Since meat-based diet is solely based on consuming animal food, this means that you are consuming food that are saturated in fat and cholesterol. Food that contains saturated fat has a likelihood of raising your LDL cholesterol which would increase the risks of heart disease.

Some processed meats like bacon also contains huge quantity of sodium. With an excessive amount of bacon intake, this would lead to high amount sodium of consumed which would have several negative health effects like blood pressure, kidney disease and many more. In addition, consumption of processed meat has a higher odd of contracting certain type of cancers such as colon and rectal cancer.

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Lack of Certain Micronutrients and Beneficial Plants Compound

With only a meat-based diet, this means that certain benefits derived from fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains are forgone. These benefits are important to your diet as they provide beneficial vitamins and mineral that are not found on meat.  Although, meat is nutritious and offer micronutrients, they do not have certain supplements/benefits that you would reap from consuming other food.

If the above point is not strong enough to convince you, diets that are rich in plant-based food have a lower risk of contracting certain chronic conditions like heart diseases, Alzheimer’s and certain cancer. By consuming vegetables, it would provide many benefits in the long run as vegetables are high in vitamins, fiber and minerals.

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It Does Not Contain Fiber

With inadequate amount of vegetable consumption, you might find yourself stuck in the toilet for long hours. This is because meat-based food does not contain fiber which is essential for gut health and healthy bowel movements. To protect yourself from constipation and colon cancer, it is necessary to have some vegetables in your diet!

Conclusion

In conclusion, meat is nutritious and offer micronutrient, but it is NOT adequate for you to ignore other foods with different benefits. It is important to have a balanced diet so you can reap the benefits from the different vitamins, minerals and nutrients different food provide to the human body. The next time you purchase food from a vendor, do remember to have some vegetables in your diet, as it helps with the discretion of your food. Until then, LETTUCE continue next time. 😊

Featured image from Carnivore Style at https://carnivorestyle.com