What is the process and what are the benefits? The process of transforming muscle from a cow into prime meat on a plate starts at slaughter. In addition to not being humane, it is known that stressing any animal before slaughter degrades the quality of the meat produced. After a…

It just adds flavour and texture — We all know, because we have been told for so long (even by celebrity chefs and authoritative cook books), that you should begin cooking meat by searing it to seal in its juices. This long-standing truism was most famously debunked in 1989 by Harold McGee in his remarkable book On…

Haeme and non-haeme iron, and iron absorption — Health authorities advocate restricting red meat in our diet, even though they can’t agree what red meat is. If pressed about what it is about red meat that makes it a health risk (e.g. for colorectal cancer, CRC), the common answer is haem-iron (HI). There is a neat convenience about…

Is it science? — Many people accept that we should eat less red and processed meat for a variety of reasons, one of which is our health. This is unfortunate, because there is no sound scientific evidence to support such a recommendation. Certainly, many nutritional studies have been published on this issue, however, the…

Does it have a scientific definition? — Health, environmental and ideological objections are regularly levelled against our evolutionary super-fuel, red meat. What once provided the energy and the nutrients for expanding our brain size, and for us to be us, is now vilified. So, if red meat is bad, how is it defined? For example, is it…

Their benefit to health, environment and climate — It seems to be commonly accepted that cows are bad for the environment (methane emissions, soil damage) and are a drain on resources that could be put to better use (grains, water, land use). These hypotheses are false when scrutinised objectively. Furthermore, their opposites are true — cattle can be…

What is the juice that comes out of a medium-rare steak then? — The sight of what appears to be blood leaking onto a plate from a medium-rare steak can be off-putting. It’s one reason that steak is often overcooked, even though the trade-off is tough dry meat (and logically; cooked blood). But the juices that come out are not blood at all. …

The importance of dietary meat and cooking for the evolution of our brain size — Meat, particularly red meat and its fat, is getting bad press, and the health police continue to attack it. Increasingly, plantarian-style diets are encouraged. We don’t hear about ‘meat and veg’ anymore (in my day that was healthy eating), we hear about ‘fruit and veg’ instead. The health, environmental and…