Meat, Medicine and Human Health in the Twentieth Century by Christian Bonah David Cantor Mathias Dörries

Author:Christian Bonah, David Cantor, Mathias Dörries [Christian Bonah, David Cantor, Mathias Dörries]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Medical, Reference, History
ISBN: 9781317323198
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2015-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

Though Jordan detailed many health problems that could arise from meat eating, and some of the benefits, ultimately he determined his position by the cultural stature of flesh protein. In effect, meat is a status symbol.

Jordan could not settle on the healthfulness of meat but others had no such difficulties. Throughout the century, advocates found many reasons to celebrate the positive attributes of meat for adults as well as children. Animal protein was good because it cured anaemia, it encouraged the digestive juices and thus aided digestion, it complemented other foods and made them more attractive. Contemporary ethnographic studies confirmed the healthfulness of meat. The lives of Eskimos and of the explorers who lived with them provided evidence that all meat diets were highly successful.23 Meat contained high-quality protein to build strong muscles and was also a good source of thiamine, iron and phosphorus.24 The iron content of meat was especially important for women’s health. By the end of the twentieth century, nutritionists particularly were concerned that women wanting to lose weight would cut back on meat in order to save calories. They insisted that women needed meat for its iron and urged them to ‘eat red meat, fish, or dark-meat poultry at least once a day. These animal foods contain heme iron, the type that our bodies absorb and use best’, they reminded dieters.25

By mid-century, a popular theme in promoting meat involved the value of its eight essential amino acids. In her widely read Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit, Adelle Davis, nutrition guru of the period, instructed readers on the importance of protein in keeping them young, and thus healthy. She explained that ‘Only when protein of excellent quality is supplied can each cell function normally and keep itself in constant repair’.26 With adequate protein the body produced sufficient energy and ‘life is made easier’.27 Davis warned her readers that all protein was not the same; its value was related to its amino acids. Humans need twenty-two amino acids, fourteen of which can be manufactured by the body. The remaining eight, the so-called essential amino acids, must be obtained from food and proteins that contain all eight are called complete or adequate. Davis informed her readers on the role of the amino acids in nutrition and on how to identify suitable sources of protein. Her guidelines:

Protein from muscle meats, used in roasts, steaks, and chops, are complete but contain fewer of some essential amino acids that do glandular meats and are therefore less valuable. On the whole, animal proteins, such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese, contain more essential amino acids in greater abundance than do vegetable proteins; hence they have superior value.28

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