RESEARCH: Plant proteins had the healthiest impact on blood cholesterol. The negative effects of white and red meats on participants' cholesterol levels were identical.
SUSAN SCUTTI: ‘The red meat or white meat debate is a draw: Eating white meat, such as poultry, will have an identical effect on your cholesterol level as eating red beef, new research indicates. The long-held belief that eating white meat is less harmful for your heart may still hold true, because there may be other effects from eating red meat that contribute to cardiovascular disease, said the University of California, San Francisco researchers. This needs to be explored in more detail, they added.
Non-meat proteins such as vegetables, dairy and legumes, including beans, show the best cholesterol benefit, according to the new study published Tuesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition… Dietitians have assumed that the generally high saturated fat content of red meat contributes to cardiovascular disease risk, yet no one has adequately tested this theory, according to the researchers. And so they put the long-held belief to the test.
More than 100 healthy men and women between ages 21 and 65 were randomly assigned to either the high-saturated fat, provided primarily by butter and full-fat foods, or the low saturated fat group… Plant proteins had the healthiest impact on blood cholesterol, the study results showed. Meanwhile, the effects of white and red meats on participants’ cholesterol levels were identical when saturated fat levels were equivalent’. SOURCE…
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