veggie
health
9
T
he Royal College of Physicians’report on diet andheart disease in 1976encouraged us to eat white meat inplace of red on the grounds that itcontains less saturated fat and istherefore less damaging.And boy,did it work,with poultryconsumption in the UK havingnearly trebled since the 1960s,with sales of pork,lamb and beef declining.Recent fears over foodpoisoning,dubious foreign imports and chicken meat pumpedup with beef protein and water have knocked sales abit butthe bird’s reputation as healthy remains largely untarnished.Booming sales for white meat has brought with it intensivepoultry production – turkeys as well as chickens and evenfarmed salmon.And a third of the 20 million turkeys killedeach year in the UK die at Christmas.Selectively bred to gain maximum weight in the minimumtime,chickens reach slaughter size almost twice as quicklyas they did 40 years ago.Forget about birds scratchingaround in the open air for insects,seeds and plants – it’scommercially-grown cereal,high energy and geneticallymodified foods in boring pellet form that predominate –plus,of course,a heavy sprinkling of antibiotics and otherdrugs to control bacteria,parasites,worms and fungi.And afew other antibiotics as growth promoters.
Turkey Untwizzled
Ask the British Turkey Information Board what makes thisbird a good food choice and their stock response is alwaysthat it’s one of the lowest-fat meats around.The FoodStandards Agency isn’t impressed,it seems,as it reckonsmeat is a major source of the most unhealthy fat – thesaturated type.In fact,meat and meat products,includingturkey and chicken in all their guises,are the leading sourceof fat in our diet,including equally unhealthy trans fats. Just as in chicken,around a third of the fat in turkey issaturated – the kind that raises bad cholesterol which canend up being dumped on artery walls,reducing blood flowand increasing heart attacks and strokes.Britain tops theEuropean league for heart deaths and around 70 per cent of Brits have cholesterol above the recommended levels.Notsurprising then that the British Medical Associationreckoned,as long ago as 1986,that levels tend to be lowerin vegetarians.It also said that levels can be lowered simplyby switching to a vegetarian diet.Professor Michael Crawford,of London MetropolitanUniversity,took another swipe at the white meat myth when hefound that chicken contains as much fat,gramfor gram,as aBigMac.He analysed chicken thigh meat fromseveralsupermarkets – even organic suppliers – and found they containmore than twice as much fat as they did back in 1940,athirdmore calories and athird less protein.Someone eating a100gramportion of chicken would get 154 kilocalories fromfatand only 74 fromprotein.And this wasn’t the breadcrumbedtype of chicken,which contains oodles more fat.Even organic chickens didn’t do that well,containing onlyslightly less fat than protein – probably because despitehaving more space than factory-farmed chickens,they’re onthe same regime of high-energy feed,little exercise andbreeding for rapid weight gain.Says Prof Crawford:“Thisfocus on rapid growth has changed the lipid (fat)composition of the chicken meat itself,and you cannotescape that – even by removing the skin and scraping away
Jamie Oliver has forced Turkey Twizzlers offthe school menu – a junk food made up offat, salt, fillers and about 34 per cent turkeyslurry. If you’re contemplating tucking into a Christmasturkey,
Amanda Woodvine
(BSc Nutrition) asks adisturbing question – is it just another junk food?
continued on page 20
Not all whiteon the night
20
veggie
health
not all white (continued)
the subcutaneous fat stuck to the meat.”
Bootiful Bernie
Ask Bernard Matthews what makes his turkeys so ‘bootiful’and he’ll likely refer you to Dr Steven Pratt’s book,
Superfoods:14 Foods that will Change Your Life
.You’ve guessedit,turkey makes the top 14,along with tomatoes,broccoli,beans,blueberries,tea,oats,pumpkin,yoghurt,walnuts,spinach,salmon,soya and oranges.Dr Pratt opts for the ‘leanest meat source of protein’stancebut with more qualifications than a university – eat skinlessbreast meat only and no more than three to four servings aweek,don’t buy self-basting birds as they may containdamaging ‘partially hydrogenated oils’and only eat groundturkey that’s labelled 99 per cent fat free! Even those who have the discipline to stick to the 3-4 ouncecautionary portion limit – about the size of a pack of cards– will be scoffing a whopping 100 milligrams of cholesterolwith each portion along with a scattering of harmful transfatty acids.While metaphorically patting turkey protein on the backwith one hand Dr Pratt assassinates it with the other,cautioning against too much animal protein.Excess can leadto a loss of calcium and an increased risk of osteoporosisand kidney damage.What’s enough? A meager 45 to 55.5grams a day and you don’t need to eat any meat to achieveit,there’s plenty in plant foods.Professor Colin Campbell,Cornell University,backs this upat length in his book
The China Study
.In fact,he cites a wealthof research linking animal protein with more nasties,such asraised blood cholesterol levels,heart disease and increasedproduction of the hormone insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)– which is thought to boost the growth of cancer cells.Despite these hazards,Dr Pratt’s support for white meat isbased on it containing some vitamins and minerals,such asniacin,vitamins B6 and B12,iron,seleniumand zinc.But it’scertainly got no monopoly on them.Mixed nuts,cerealgrains,yeast extracts,vegetables and fruits are all usefulsources of these nutrients but without the potential forharmful side effects.It’s even been shown that B12 in fortifiedfoods such as breakfast cereals are more easily absorbed thanB12 in meat,poultry and fish – particularly for the elderly. The National Academy of Sciences in the US advises adultsaged 50 and over to obtain most of their B12 fromfortifiedfoods.It’s pretty good advice for younger adults as well.A Veggie Merry Christmas!
Recompense su curiosidad
Todo lo que desea leer.
En cualquier momento. En cualquier lugar. Cualquier dispositivo.
Sin compromisos. Cancele cuando quiera.