Too much steak:
 

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you won a years worth of high quality steaks, delivered fresh weekly. You like steak, so you ate it 4-5 times a week, every week, for dinner along w a salad or sometimes a vegetable.

What would be the negative health consequences of eating that much red meat? Let’s say that you’re ~60 years old and not overweight. Because that is the way I’ve been eating most of this year at the cabin and it’s just dawned on me that I might be doing harm to myself. I know that most doctors will tell you to limit red meat, eat a varied diet of lean meat .org no meat, etc.

I like steak and it’s easy to cook on the gas grille plus I don’t have a great repertoire of cooking skill to make other meals. At home in L.A., it’s easy to mix in some vegan meals w my steak habit, eat a more varied diet. FWIW, I feel great. :)

I have a good size steak once a year or two. Most of my meat intake is chicken. Pork or beef is usually chopped up in much small amount and mixed into my diet like salad. Doc suggest we all cut back in red meat to keep the pipes clean. There are lots of marbling in steak, I know, I know, that's what makes it so damn good. That will kill ya.

I had a minor stroke when I turned 40. One day, out of the blue, I had a bit difficultly moving my foot. I couldn't draw a circle on the ground when I got up in the morning. I had a splitting headache. I don't drink, smoke, or drugs but have a beer with the occasional Mexican food but love my burgers, burritos and Thai foods. Spent a week in the hospital and they couldn't find anything after going through all type of testing they can think of. Doc leaned over said, " I can tell you are type A, so stop it or it will eat you alive". A couple days later, I am back to normal. No symptoms, thank goodness. He also said, no more red meat and cut down on carbs. My diet was mostly rice, pasta, and potatoes. I had only two burgers since. But damn, were they delicious. I go very easy on the red meats now. Since then, I got back on my bike and slowly got away from working on the west side for those entertainment folks.

Sounds like a good way to get a tripple bypass. We switched to turkey chop meat in everything years ago could hardly tell the difference. Now when we have beef we're all lethargic and feel weird. At 60 you should start cutting alot of things out including beef or its going to catch up to you real soon

I hear buffalo mean is more lean then turkey and taste better then beef.

I once got 30lbs of buffalo meat as a promotion for buying a set of new tires. Yes, its very good.

"They say" it can increase chances of some cancers (colorectal), heart problems, increase chances of kidney stones (had one of those once - no thanks), etc., etc. I would think it's like anything else where the idea of "everything in moderation" is the best route to follow. Maybe you could freeze a decent amount & stretch out the supply. I had ground buffalo in my enchaladas last night. Of course I couldn't tell the difference.

Have you ever been to Argentina ?
Typical lunch...steak
Typical dinner steak
Typical restaurant. Steak
Typical first course. Melted cheese .

Vegetables are few and far between, a palm salad is typical...sPinich if you are lucky
The biggest decision is what cut of steak.

At lunchtime you will see grandmothers and great grandmothers gobbling down...steak
Chicken is rare, pork is rare,and although on the coast, seafood is rare..at least in Buenos Aires

Argentina has the world's second-highest consumption rate of beef, with yearly consumption at 55 kg per person.

And the lifespan..76 years average

You are all good, Denis. No worries. Meat and sallad is excellent. Its all the carbohydrates from bread, pasta and such that should be cut down along with all the highly processed food from fastfood and cakes.
Oh and the odd glass of wine won´t kill you either. :)

Red meat is good for you.

Green & fuzzy meat is bad for you.

Steak 4-5 times a week for a year? God god, I wouldn't be able to move.

Eat it with red wine and have oatmeal for breakfast, it will be fine.


You know that you don't have to eat it all yourself right? You don't have any friends that you can grill steaks and have dinner with them, seriously?

If I had that much steak coming to the house free, no doubt I would eat a lot of it.
I would also invest in a vacuum sealer. Package some of that and you will probably have enough steak for two years!
I use one for my bulk buys before storing in the freezer and the meat keeps really well.

Mongolians eat much the same diet. I think I've been told that they eat a diet consisting of well over 90% red meat. I had the pleasure of spending a good deal of time there while I was still working, and that is certainly what I ran up against. Beef in some form for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thank God they have no shortage of ways to prepare it but, even then, after months on that kind of a diet it gets pretty old. They do appear to be very healthy people, though. I don't remember seeing anywhere near the numbers of overweight people I see here, in Europe, the British Isles, and other places. Maybe because, even though they eat red meat at every meal, they show some restraint and don't gorge themselves on it. And they tend to be very active as well.

So, Denis, I don't think I would worry too much about it. You are an active, fit, healthy guy. Just eat reasonable portions and enjoy it.

Ok, I’m sorry if I misled anyone, I did not actually win a year’s supply of steaks. I was just trying to paint a picture of how much steak I’ve been eating this year. I buy it at the store, along w everything else I eat. Almost exclusively New York steaks...ribeyes have too much fat for me.

That’s what, ”for the sake of argument...,” actually means. But I digress. :)

So there is no issue w not having friends, (I do), or needing to vacuum seal and freeze it. My heart was in great shape the last time I had it checked, (maybe a year ago), but cholesterol is still an issue as it is w everyone.

The main issue is that I’m not much of a cook and I’ve been staying in a cabin in the woods w a gas grille right outside the door. It’s been a tasty year but I think I need to wind it down on the steak while I’m ahead. :)

As I gotten older, I enjoy steak less and less. It’s been decades since I put an entire steak on a plate and gotten after it. Decades.

Now? Maybe twice a month; I’ll buy a thick quality steak from a butcher. White coat, mustache, knit hat....you know the guy. (Or gal - sans mustache)

I serve it family style. Slice it into thin pieces, lay it out and my wife and I will pick at it with a bowl of rice and a platter of small cut veggies - chopsticks.

It works out nicely. Satisfying, less expensive, easier to digest, all that stuff.

Just keep doing what you are doing. Beef is high quality protein. Like I said above, just eat oatmeal or something like that. Keep on with the cowboy diet and have them check your cholesterol next time you go to the doctor.


On second thought, you probably are like me and everyone else who only go to the doctor when you are sick. You are not the sickly type though, so you probably don't talk to the doc much. It apparently has you concerned, maybe get some lab work done, cholesterol and LFT(liver function tests) As long as the cholesterol is not too high and your liver is working right, forget about it.

Plus you usually have leftovers that haven't been on someones plate! I serve our steaks this way too.

Interesting thread. Also interesting that two docs (Tobra and Livi) weighed in here and said it was not only fine, but healthy.

I am no doc, but very interested in nutrition. My research and experience seems to be leaning towards the hypothesis that it is the presence of sugar and refined carbohydrates that actually cause the negative effects of red meat, saturated fat and cholesterol in the body. The inflammatory response from sugar and insulin activity, in conjunction with the presence of high blood fats from meat, is what creates the chronic and damaging physiological risks.

But, high quality (this is key) meats, along with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, are not only "ok", but possibly optimal, as long as you minimize sugar and refined carbohydrates.

YMMV.

JA

This is what every refrigerator in the world should look like.

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It doesn't look like that currently, but it is my refrigerator.

Not to start a debate, but there should be no issue with eating pasta or bread, and none of that whole wheat stuff.
It's just protein (12-14%) water, salt and yeast, or maybe an egg for pasta.

Now sugar...that's a whole different story.

I try to have at least one ribeye a week, mostly black and blue to just under medium rare. Have always done cast iron with a caramelization sear but been enjoying grilled over wood over coals this summer.

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American farmed meat is not the same as wild meat, nor what is eaten in Mongolia, by the Masai or what early humans ate. One difference is that the fat levels are much higher.

Grass fed will be better than grain finished for health.

observational studies show that red meat is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and death

recently, this was traced to (at least) levels of L-carnitine which interacts with bacteria in the body - which is a good search term for you

The real question is whether eating red meat will be worse for you than worrying about eating it...
I don't worry about it, and eat it once or twice a week (45 day aged NY steak last night).

If you feel you are eating it too often, just give some away.

when i eat too much red meat, say steak two days in a row, i get intestinal blockage-like issues and pain so bad i can barely walk for a week. i also have diverticulitis....not sure if this has any impact on the pain i get

because of this i’ve lost my passion for steak. i also couldn’t imagine eating anything so boring all week long.

if i ever win a years worth of steak, it’s yours

We have a ranch in the area that gets Buffalo from Colorado and Arizona and they sell a lot of it here. Going to give it a try the next time I am close to their store.

Joe A

nevermind what i said above. this looks damn good

that reminds me....

overcooking a protein (sear, esp. the blacker parts) generates a number of toxic compounds, e.g. nitrosamines

BUT... your body has a number of detoxification mechanisms to deal with that, so if you are going to get cancer, etc. get it from something that tastes great - not from spilling used motor oil all over yourself

see also: beer

Just the right amount of Veggies



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I’ll just say it. Too much of anything isn’t all that great.

My cardiologist says I should mainly eat beef, lamb, and goat. When I eat chicken I should eat the skin. And don’t worry too much about eating vegetables. My cardiologist also says I don’t need a cardiologist so take that into consideration. My father died of a heart attack at 43 and my half brother had his first heart attack at 57 so I have a cardiologist.

thanks, it was one of my better steaks

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Have a friend who has owned over 25 Porsches in his lifetime. He lives just down the street. We met one day when we each saw each other driving our P-cars.

I remember him saying in one conversation he went on a diet of potato chips and ice cream and lost weight. That's all he ate for a designated time period that I can't quite remember. Couldn't have been as much as a year but probably at least a month.

Smart guy - had one of those mini-CD business cards.

You're just getting warmed up for a move to Texas. Austin is the " quarantine " zone, until you come to your senses. :p

I hit the "scratch and dent" cooler at our local Krogers 2 or 3 times a week. The meat that is reduced for quick sale is 95% beef - a lot of it steak. I have so many steaks vacuum packed and frozen in the freezer that I bring them home now and grind them into hamburger. I made some great burgers out of strip steak and brisket.

Following Shaun's example I did a couple of small rib eyes last night.
I was at the grocery store and saw a few great looking steaks. I like rib eyes to be on the smaller side with a large cap or deckle wrapped around it.
My wife has a preference for medium well but I managed to sneak some medium steaks by her last night.
Cooked on the big green egg high temp cook. They were fantastic. Sorry, too hungry last night for photos.
If they were thicker I might have done a reverse sear on them but that wasn't required this time.

I find that the Weber Kettle is easier to use than the BGE for high temp grilling. The cleaning out is easier. I also have the Rotisserie attachment for it..Chicken, Leg of Lamb, Rib Roast, Pork Roasts..

Indirect, with water pan in the middle. Haven't done that in awhile, I will have to do that pretty soon...

What I want is a Santa Maria Grill..

Robert et Louise in Paris is where I first learned about cooking steaks over wood. Going there was a huge disappointment, thank you Anthony Bourdain for ruining such a wonderful restaurant.

But a SMG is on the list or something like the Gaucho Grill. The problem is I have been loving my steaks on a $20 mini Weber and some chunks of smoking wood. So not sure spending that kind of money on a grill is super smart. Smoking some babybacks tomorrow, first time, will be interesting to see how those turn out.


Skip to 31:40 for Robert et Louise. The irony of his "everything that makes this place great would be illegal in the US" is that the place became Americanized after his show placed such a bright spot light on it 15 years ago. My visit was complete with ugly Americans, pretty much the only ones I saw in Paris last year.

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Thanks for the responses. I do eat oatmeal quite a bit for breakfast but definitely not every morning, which would give the full health effect wrt cholesterol. I've heard about the benefit of red wine but alas, I'm not drinking alcohol these days.

Protein+salad is a pretty good paleo diet, it's more or less what my dad used to eat every night years ago. He liked to cook steaks and chops out on his charcoal grille on the patio and they were delicious, (usually ribeyes chopped for him by a butcher), unfortunately they were always charred on the outside and pink on the inside which may have contributed to the type of cancer he eventually got, in his throat. Charred food plus acid reflux is my guess.

As for as how I feel on this diet, I feel fantastic. I definitely eat too much sugar and carbs as well, I love bread. I need to work on that. I have had kidney stones in the past, more than once, I know that I'm not following the anti-stone diet very well. But the steak doesn't make me feel sluggish at all and my digestive system is running like a Swiss watch for the most part.

I need to step-up the exercise and cut back on the fat and sugar in my diet. I'm inspired by our Seahawk and his "wog" regime, (walk+jog), anyone can do that regardless of fitness level and benefit from it. Ive done soma good long bicycle rides this summer when I'm down in Minneapolis and chores up here but it's not steady enough.

Lastly, everyone's genetics are different, even though general advice wrt healthy diets is legitimate. I'm blessed w good health genetics, I see people my age who are far older in biological terms than me. Their health and vitality is gone...it's sad and has to effect mood.

Most of what I've been eating is like this:
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Cooked about like this, (medium...can't hack raw beef):
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