Hi

 

Yes I am striving to consume a diet that is 70% plants but I am still very much in love with a juicy med rare steak

 

With that being said there are risks associated with eating meat worth noting: the food source, hormone administration, and antibiotics.  

 

Today, common practice is to fatten cows with grain rather than grass.  Unfortunately, the consequence is meat rich in omega-6 compared to omega-3 fatty acids, which tips the scales toward an imbalanced production of pro-inflammatory hormones in your body (the same thing happens when humans eat grains – obesity and elevated omega-6 levels).  

 

Grass-fed beef, on the other hand, has a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 that is much closer to that found in free-range poultry.  If the label does not specify that the beef was 100% grass-fed, then you should assume it has a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. 
 
The second risk comes from supplementing beef, pigs, and poultry with growth hormones.  Hormones stimulate growth and increased milk production in cows.  Some of the hormone remains in the meat and milk we consume.  

The ingestion of these foreign hormones, xenohormones, is likely a contributing factor to adverse health effects in humans – from earlier sexual and physical development in young people, to an increased incidence of hormone-related cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer. 
 

The third risk with modern dairy practices involves the use of antibiotics.  The administration of hormones to dairy cows results in significantly greater milk production.  Because the cow is producing so much more milk their udder becomes so grossly enlarged that the teats literally drag on the ground, constantly exposing them to bacteria. (ewww...)

 

To avoid infected udders antibiotics are added to the feed. A small portion of the antibiotics end up in the meat and milk we consume. Constant exposure to antibiotics has been associated with mutations of bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics,and recently it has been observed that women with long-term antibiotic exposure are at greater risk for developing breast cancer.  

 

Could the same thing be true for men with prostate cancer?  We don’t know yet, but it may not be worth risking.