A health vote for red meat

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 44

A health vote for red meat

By JON VAN NZPA-KRD New Orleans People who like eating bacon, steak and meat dishes got a bit of encouragement from scientists at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting recently. ■ At a time when many scientific findings have emphasised the health hazards of eating red meat, fans of animal flesh can take heart from studies that find benefits pr at least a lack of Hanger in consuming their favourite foods. dDoctor Paul Saltman, ». bKdstattheUntaer"

sity of California at San Diego, said he encouraged people to eat red meat because it is an excellent source of trace metals that are vital to good health. “Two helpings of red meat can supply all the trace minerals a person needs daily,” said Dr Saltman, “but it’s almost impossible to get these minerals just from vegetables. You would have to eat almost 4kg of broccoli to do it.” Dr Saltman said laboratory studies and human research in Europe suggest strongly that man-

ganese is essential to bone formation and avoidance of the bone-thinning process called osteoporosis. He has launched a twoyear study in California of 150 volunteers to assess the effects of diet supplementation with calcium and manganese to avpid bone loss. Dr Saltman said other trace elements such as zinc and iron may also be needed to avoid bone loss and to build a healthy immune system. People who shun meat risk poor health due to low levels of vital trace elements circulating in

their blood, said Dr Saltman. He said people who want to avoid heart disease should shun fat and high-calorie .meals, but they should eat lean red meat and get sufficient exercise to stay trim rather than adopt vegetarian or so-called macrobiotic diets. Another study presented to the chemists found that preparing bacon in a microwave oven instead of a frying pan can avoid producing cancer-causing substances called nitrosamines. Barbara Miller, of the

National Center for Toxicological Research, said her comparisons of bacon prepared both ways found that microwaving bacon either produced none of the cancer-causing chemicals or produced them at very low levels in contrast to frying.

Nitrosamines are produced when nitrites, chemicals used to preserve bacon and other cured meats, are heated. Miller speculated that microwaved bacon may not produce nitrosamines because the energy form does not affect the nitrites directly.