Red meat is demonstrably safe
In a nutshell
Academic literature indicates that animal-based food is inherently safe
Plant fibre may be harmful to sensitive individuals
Each of us should listen to what our body is telling us and be wary of one-size-fits-all recommendations
I recently wrote about the fact that dietary fibre is not necessary for everyone and may in fact harm some people by causing things like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). I relied quite heavily on a review paper by scientists from France and America for that article [1].
Coincidentally, a few hours after publication, I watched a video conversation with a young man who’d had his bowel removed because his IBD was so advanced and uncontrolled, it was killing him. I found his personal description of poor medical advice and dietary experience so powerful that I decided to highlight evidence relating to meat consumption and IBD.
This will be a short piece consisting of the following:
Does animal-based food cause cancer?
Dietary fibre and IBD?
Does animal-based food cause cancer?
This question is relevant because the advice given to Kent after his IBD diagnosis and surgery appears to have been predicated on the misguided notion that animal-based foods are inherently harmful. Bowel cancer is often stated as caused by consuming red meat.
I do consume animal-based food (and plant-based) and I’ve written previously about how humans have evolved eating mostly meat and how it is bioavailable and nutrient-dense. I haven’t done a deep dive into the literature for this piece but present select passages from reference 1. Anyone interested can follow up on the references in that review.
I’m generally skeptical and never rely solely on non-human (animal model) results. In the aggregate along with supporting human data, they can have value, however. Here’s what the French/American team have to say about animal-based food and cancer (remember that unsaturated fat is not naturally high in animals):
“Animal models suggesting that beef consumption does not promote cancer, that bacon may be protective, and that unsaturated fat may have carcinogenic effects all increase the likelihood that strong statements on animal foods and cancer are premature.”
Animal data is supported by human studies (an inverse correlation in the statement below means that as meat intake increases, death decreases). From the same paper:
“…a growing number of reviews…weaken the links between meat consumption and cancer and possibly also overall health, with some showing inverse correlations between meat intake and overall [death]…and lower rates of [colorectal cancer] in meat eaters than in vegetarians.”
On the current evidence for the effects of animal foods and cancer, the authors conclude:
“As most of these studies have limitations, more research will be needed with the overall balance of evidence not currently appearing to support an independent effect of animal-based foods on the incidence of [colorectal cancer].”
Finally, the authors put their comments in the context of, for me, the most important consideration of all, how did our species evolve. How can animal-based food be damaging if we are adapted to eat the stuff?
“Given meat’s long-term presence in the hominid diet, it is more likely that modern dietary components and cooking techniques are driving cancer risk factors through their effects on our guts and general physiology”
Dietary Fibre and IBD
The embedded video below is a discussion between an American doctor, Ken Berry and Lee Copus, a young man from Kent, England. In 2013, Kent was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis a form of IBD and had to have his colon surgically removed (colectomy) in 2017. This means that food passes from his stomach to his upper intestine, where bioavailable nutrients are removed, and then to an external bag (ostomy bag) from which he must empty the contents manually.
After his drastic operation and dramatic change of lifestyle, Kent heard of Mikhaila Peterson's (Jordan Peterson’s daughter) story in which she had cured her depression and other ailments with a 100% meat diet. He decided to try the same and in just three weeks his depression and other negative symptoms lifted.
Summary
Kent’s story really struck a nerve with me. His doctors recommended a high fibre diet when he was diagnosed with IBD. Just three years later his gut was so inflamed and his life at risk, that his doctors surgically removed his entire colon (lower gut). Consequently, Kent could see that any plant material he ate was not digested in his stomach or upper intestine but simply passed into the bag he then had to empty manually. After the operation he was depressed and continued to suffer from abdominal discomfort.
Kent conducted his own research and tried a 100% animal-based diet. In just three weeks his depression and other symptoms were gone…! He describes how he never felt better in his life after eliminating plants from his diet. Incredibly, his doctors apparently don’t want to discuss this with him.
I try to stay away from arguments about specific diets because I do not believe there is such a thing as one diet or one pharmaceutical product that works for everyone. I am always intrigued by any argument against a form of food (e.g., animal meat) that we are highly adapted to eat. I’m also intrigued by an argument for a type of ingredient (e.g., plant fibre) that in some people may be associated with debilitating diseases such as IBS and IBD.
I haven’t done enough research to claim that plant fibre causes things like Kent’s IBD but I have read that a fibre free diet can inhibit and be used for long-term treatment of a form of IBD [2,3].
Kent’s story may or not be unusual but it reminds me of important principles. Very importantly, we are all different and should take time to listen to what our own bodies are telling us and be wary of one-size-fits-all recommendations. Secondly, what we eat matters because it is the basis of a potentially long and healthy life well lived.
References
Sholl J, Mailing LJ, Wood TR. Reframing Nutritional Microbiota Studies To Reflect an Inherent Metabolic Flexibility of the Human Gut: a Narrative Review Focusing on High-Fat Diets. mBio. 2021 Apr 13;12(2):e00579-21. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00579-21. PMID: 33849977; PMCID: PMC8092254.
Kuffa, P. et al. Fiber-deficient diet inhibits colitis through the regulation of the niche and metabolism of a gut pathobiont. Cell Host and Microbe. 2023 31, 1-16
Svolos V, Hansen R, Nichols B, Quince C, Ijaz UZ, Papadopoulou RT, Edwards CA, Watson D, Alghamdi A, Brejnrod A, Ansalone C, Duncan H, Gervais L, Tayler R, Salmond J, Bolognini D, Klopfleisch R, Gaya DR, Milling S, Russell RK, Gerasimidis K. Treatment of Active Crohn's Disease With an Ordinary Food-based Diet That Replicates Exclusive Enteral Nutrition. Gastroenterology. 2019 Apr;156(5):1354-1367.e6. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.002. Epub 2018 Dec 11. PMID: 30550821