Dear Men, You Eat Too Much MeatExclusive for subscribers

Americans have a meat problem.

Meat has many benefits: it’s a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals like iron, zinc and vitamin B12. But eating too much, especially processed foods and red meat, is linked to health problems. Surveys link processed meat, such as rolled ham and bacon, with heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer, and unprocessed red meat can increase the risk of diabetes.

And today, American men consume far more meat, poultry and egg foods than they do. Federal guidelines recommend largely because they eat red and processed meat.

Men ages 20 and older consume just over 2.5 pounds of meat, poultry and eggs per week, compared with the U.S. government’s recommended intake of 28 ounces for most men up to age 60. Younger and middle-aged men eat even more. High protein diets, like keto remain popular, while the “carnivore” diet, in which one eats only or almost exclusively meat, has also gained followers.

Men consume 650 grams of red and salted meats per week, compared to 350 grams for women, according to federal data.

“Men associate meat with strength and power, especially red meat,” says Rob Velzeboer, a researcher in the Men’s Health Research Program at the University of British Columbia and lead author of a paper on meat. men, flesh and masculinity published in the spring in the American Journal of Men’s Health.

Public health messages encouraging people to eat less meat may be counterproductive, notes

According to some studies, men with more traditional views of masculinity eat more meat. Men say they like the taste of meat more than women and associate meat consumption with strength.

“There’s this idea of ​​social dominance of a human male dominating other animals,” says Daniel Rosenfeld, a social psychologist in the department of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied what motivates gender differences in meat consumption.

Men who subscribe to two specific aspects Men of stereotypical traditional masculinity, who support the use of violence and place a high value on sexual virility, eat more meat than other men, according to a study of 557 Australian and English men published in 2024 in the journal Ecology of Food and Nutrition.

Other men say they eat a lot of meat because it makes them feel slimmer and fitter.

Eddie DeLaRosa eats grass-fed steak about four times a week. “My body craves red meat,” says the 55-year-old personal trainer from New York City. Avoid processed foods and eat plenty of vegetables, like kale and spinach.

This spring, he ate even more meat for a month, when he tried a version of the carnivore diet before a beach vacation. “I was going to Jamaica in a few months and wanted to get in shape,” he says. She felt more energetic and lost weight, but says the diet was “boring” and she wanted to eat vegetables.

What doctors and researchers are most concerned about is processed meat, which includes cured and smoked products. Meat is typically loaded with sodium and often contains nitrites, preservatives used to prevent bacteria growth and extend its shelf life. Excess sodium raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Some studies have linked nitrites to colon cancer. The World Health Organization has classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans.”

Some studies have shown that eating unprocessed meat is linked to cardiovascular disease and premature death. Other research has found a modest or no relationship with cardiovascular disease.

Steaks and hamburgers contain high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, and red meat raises LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, says Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

A growing body of research shows that eating meat increases the risk of diabetes. Scientists aren’t sure why, but some researchers think the heme iron in red meat is at least partly to blame. Heme iron can cause inflammation, damage the pancreas, and reduce insulin secretion, says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University.

If you love steaks and burgers, how much meat should you eat? One burger a week or one 12-ounce steak a month is a good limit for red meat, Willett says. And choose unprocessed meats over processed items like bacon, cold cuts and sausages.

If you’re cutting back on meat, don’t replace it with the sodium- and sugar-laden ultra-processed foods that dominate the typical American diet. The lower amount of ultra-processed foods in meat-heavy diets is one reason people tend to feel good about themselves, at least in the short term, Mozaffarian says.

“Unprocessed red meat is probably healthier than most packaged and processed foods that are high in starch and sugar. But it’s not better than seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds,” he says.

For some men, cutting back on meat isn’t an option.

Brandon Bauch of Austin, Texas, eats meat almost every day, usually steak or chicken and sometimes bacon. He usually cooks it on the grill or in a smoker in his backyard. Bauch is so known for making a meal out of a cut of meat, and only meat — no vegetables or other accompaniments — that his wife has made him a platter that says “Meat on a Plate.” She also cooks pork or beef for Poppy, her goldendoodle, several times a week.

“That’s how I grew up,” says Bauch, 53, a Texas native who works in the mortgage industry. That highlights Austin’s abundance of great barbecue restaurants.

“I think we are made to eat meat,” he said.