Eat pork, beef, calves, goats, sheep… how much is enough per day?

Given that eating a lot of red meat helps in muscle development, almost every day, Huong (Ba Dinh) also feeds her teenage son beef and veal. Sometimes she changes her meal to fish, shrimp and seafood.

In contrast to Ms. Huong, her mother-in-law is determined not to eat red meat for fear of cancer. Her daily main dishes are beans, peanuts, and a few pieces of dried fish. A low protein diet made her mother always in a state of weakness. I had to go to the emergency room once because of low blood sugar.

So how much red meat is enough?

Dr. Tuan Thi Mai Phuong – National Institute of Nutrition said that red meat is very popular in Vietnamese meals not only because of the concept of nutrition and luxury but also because of the convenience in access and variety in food. Prepared and delicious to eat.

According to the results of nutritional censuses, the consumption of meat in general and red meat in particular has increased sharply in recent decades. If the average meat consumption (of all kinds) per person/day is 51g/day (2000) and 84g/day (2010) and in 2020, the consumption will reach 134.5g/day.

People in urban areas have higher meat consumption than rural areas. The per capita consumption of red meat is 95.5g/person/day (in 2020) and in urban areas is 116.9g/day, this consumption of urban people is already higher than the demand recommendation for more red meat consumption.

Eat pork, beef, calves, goats, sheep… how much is enough per day?

Dr. Mai Phuong asserts that red meat is an important source of animal protein. In 100g of lean pork there are 19 grams of protein, or in 100g of beef there are 21 grams of protein – meeting approximately 30% of an adult’s daily protein needs. Besides, red meat is rich in micro-minerals such as iron, zinc, vitamin B12.

According to the Vietnamese food ingredients list, 100g of lean beef tenderloin provides 1.6g of iron and 4.05g of zinc, about 1mcg of B12. In 100g of pork, there are about 1 gram of iron and 2.5 grams of zinc, and 0.84 mcg of B12. This content is high compared to other foods.

However, consuming a lot of red meat will increase the risk of many diseases. A balanced and reasonable consumption of foods in general and especially red meat in particular is the key to maintaining and improving health.

“Eating too much red meat is a risk factor for a number of diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, especially colorectal cancer. This is the conclusion of the International Fund for Cancer Prevention based on the synthesis and analysis of data from many studies on red and processed meat consumption across different countries and ethnicities. Mai Phuong emphasized.

Accordingly, to balance the benefits of eating red meat (a rich source of protein and micronutrients) with the risks to health (non-communicable diseases and cancer), specific guidelines are needed. on reasonable consumption.

The International Cancer Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research have made the following recommendations:

It is recommended to consume no more than three times of red meat per week, the total amount of red meat in a week is about 350-500g post-processing (equivalent to a maximum of about 700g raw meat and excluding the weight of the bones).

If calculated by day, the amount of red meat should not exceed 70g/day (cooked meat), equivalent to about 100g/day raw meat excluding bones.

“So the recommendation is to give a specific amount so that people can adjust the amount of red meat in their diet.

It is also recommended to use lean meat, increase the use of poultry, fish, eggs and milk as foods to replace red meat in daily meals to ensure adequate supply of protein and micro-minerals”, Dr. Mai Phuong information.

N. Huyen