June 19, 2013

The media was quick to raise the alarm for a study which asserts meat causes cardiovascular disease (CVD), due to spikes in a compound known as TMAO. There is no cause for alarm yet. While not all meat is healthy, the study doesn't convincingly support its claim.

Taking fish as the prime example, it's a well known fact that eating fish actually improves cardiovascular health. Fish is also cited by the researchers as being high in TMAO. In addition, their findings would contradict their previous studies which suggest that the vegetarian "enterotype" (a classification for gut bacteria populations) produces higher levels of TMAO, which would lead 1 to conclude it's really vegetarians at risk if they eat meat.

So if you like meat, carry on! Beyond Organic recommends eating only lean meats which are organic and/or grass fed, cooked medium or medium rare.