Nutrition and Health of Beef

Beef is a rich source of vitamin B, zinc, iron, phosphorus, and selenium. Red meats like beef are a source of carnitine; it is a quaternary ammonium compound and is a responsible for the transportation of fatty acids to the mitochondria from the cytosol. Carnitine is also sold as a nutritional supplement. A combination of beef along with avocados is a source of creatine, nitrogenous organic acid that helps in supplying energy to the nerve cells and muscle. Studies done at the World Cancer Research Fund in 2007 revealed that bowel cancer may be caused due to consumption of red meat. Reports say that one should not consume more than 500 grams of cooked red meat every week and very little processed meat to avoid increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, lean beef is said to have vitamin B12 and selenium, which help in reducing the risk of colon cancer. Some say that eating red meat sparingly is a good habit as it has high amounts of unwanted saturated fat. However, beef is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid, a heart-healthy fat, along with saturated fat. Beef also contains vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 which help in reducing level of homocysteine, an amino acid present in the human body. Deficiency of vitamin B9, vitamin B6 or vitamin B12 leads to increased levels of homocysteine and may result in thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases. Research shows that high consumption of red meat like pork and beef increases the risk of getting colorectal cancer by two times. Research also showed that eating other types of meat and sea food did not increase the risk and suggested eating vegetables would reduce the risk marginally. People who eat red meat – like beef – in large amounts and did not eat vegetables were likely to get colon cancer by 2.5 times. Eating vegetables showed reduction of the risk slightly.