Should You Eat Diets Without Meat?

 Should You Eat Diets Without Meat?

Meat meal vs Vegan Meal
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Meat is a foundational part of the human diet. Humans have been eating it for thousands of years. However, in the modern age, some people seem to be turning their backs on it. They either significantly reduce how much of it they eat, or they completely cut it out of their diet. However, removing meat from your diet is a bad idea, as meat has many different benefits. Meat provides many valuable nutrients in various different forms, each with their own benefits. Most people think that meat is only good for its protein, and not much more.

What Are the Benefits of Eating Meat?

However, this is not true. As said before, meat has many different valuable nutrients. First off, meat is a great source of protein. Protein is one of the most important nutrients for the body, as it is used to build muscles and grow the body. According to Cambridge university, there are about 20-24 grams of protein in red meat. This is very significant, compared to something like tofu, which only has about 8 to 10 grams of protein. Protein is a hugely important nutrient, as it is one of the body’s fundamental building blocks. Protein is used to build muscles and make you stronger. But, even if gaining strength is not your goal, your body still needs lots of protein to function in peak condition. However, meat is more than just protein. It also contains many different other essential nutrients. For example, lean meats are very high in PUFA, or polyunsaturated fatty acid, which is a healthy fat and help with many different functions of the human body.

Additionally, eating meat is shown to be beneficial for the brain. This is explained here in Scientific report’s article: “Red meat consumption was linked to improved micronutrients implicated in mental health; therefore, we speculate that red meat inclusion in a high-quality diet may contribute to better mental health outcomes over time”. According to them, eating red meat gives the brain more of the essential nutrients needed to keep functioning properly, for people who are in the high HEI dietary range. Improving the functions of the brain can be incredibly valuable for day-to-day life, especially in jobs that require lots of brainpower.

Not only that, but meat has also been shown to be a good source of vitamin D. In her article, Radke quotes two others who claim that vitamin D can be obtained from the diet, even when there is not as much sun. She then further backs up her claim by quoting a study taken in Greenland. The results of the study suggested that those who ate a more traditional diet that was high in meat ended up with higher vitamin D concentrations than those who ate diets with less meat. This suggests that meat is actually capable of supplying the body with vitamin D, which is a very valuable vitamin that can be hard to obtain otherwise. Vitamin D is a very important mineral for growth, as it works with calcium to build the bones in the human body.

In total, meat can provide large amounts of protein for building the body, provides nutrients that improve the brain, and is a great source of vitamin D. However, there are still some drawbacks and misunderstandings about what eating meat does.

What Are Some of the Drawbacks of Eating Meat and How Can They Be Avoided or Negated?

Despite its benefits, meat seems to have gained a slightly negative reputation from the general public. Meat has gained a reputation for increasing risk of cancer. However, this does not tell the whole story. Again, according to scientific report’s article, only processed red meats have been shown to increase risk of cancer. This evidence suggests that you should cut out or reduce processed meats from your diet but keep in the more natural unprocessed meats. As long as you follow this, then you are safer from getting cancer.

Another argument is that meat is full of unhealthy saturated fats, which are said to increase the chance of people getting diabetes or more cardiovascular diseases. However, Giromini says “They highlight that recent evidence from meta-analyses of both prospective studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) do not support the traditional view that saturated fats are linked to increased cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) or diabetes.” This suggests that saturated fats found in meat are not actually as unhealthy as they are believed to be and are not significant enough of a problem to stop eating meat. This means that cutting out meat due to saturated fats is not worth losing out on the benefits that eating meat provides.

All in all, Meat does carry risks of dangerous fats. These fats can increase risk of diabetes and cancer, all of which can ruin a life. However, this is avoidable. Clean, unprocessed meats do not contain those fats, and in fact can have the opposite effect, reducing risks of both cancer and diabetes.

Counterpoints to Supporters of Non-Meat Diets.

Some people might say that vegan diets are better and should be used instead. However, this is not true, as there is a lot more nuance to this theory. Vegan diets do have their own benefits, but they often have unmentioned drawbacks. Radke explains that the more popular diets such as the mediterranean diets do have some health benefits, the large amount of carbohydrates in them actually result in an increase in Obesity related diseases.

Another potential, albeit rare, risk of not eating meat is vitamin b12 deficiencies. Oxford’s case report, “A strict vegetarian diet may be harmful: bilateral macular bleeding in vitamin B12 deficiency” is an article that cover a report of a 35-year-old office worker who was having problems with exhaustion and vison loss. It was revealed that everything was mostly functioning properly in his body, except for various symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency. The report directly states “Vitamin B12 deficiency-induced severe thrombocytopenia most likely causes a bilateral macular bleed in the present case.”  The deficiency was caused by his diet. He ate a strict vegetarian diet, which did not contain enough of the vitamin. He could have avoided this problem if he ate meat, which is rich in b12. This shows that a diet without meat can be unhealthy, as you miss out on the numerous benefits that eating meat can provide.

Another argument that supporters of vegan diets say is they make them healthier. In Dovepress’s article “Health Benefits of a Vegan Diet: Current Insights” They analyze the results of various studies taken in the US, UK and India. The results of these studies show that there is a vast difference in the benefits that veganism provides. Overall, the studies suggested that vegans were less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes (NIDDM) and had lower BMIS. Specifically, Dovepress says this in their conclusion: “To summarize, there was strong evidence that free-living vegans were less likely than omnivores to develop NIDDM (in the US). Vegans had reduced TC and LDL-C levels, and lower BMIs (in non-Asian locales) compared to omnivores, and in some cases, other dietary groups.” These are good benefits, but they do not tell the whole story. First off, BMI is not a perfect measurement of health. Since BMI is a measure of weight related to height, it not only records fat but muscle as well. Because vegan diets are going to be receiving less protein due to their diet, they are not going to be as high on the BMI scale. Those who eat meat may have a higher BMI but it is not necessarily a bad thing. Secondly, type-2 Diabetes is mostly caused by processed foods, not meat. Processed meat can increase risk of type-2 diabetes, but it can be prevented by using unprocessed quality meats. Overall, all of the benefits of veganism can be found in diets with meat. Not only that, but those also who eat meat get to enjoy the benefits it provides that veganism lacks.

Summary:

In the end, meat is one of the most important foods for the human body. It provides numerous resources for the body, which allows it to grow and have energy. It helps with the brain, improving mood. It has drawbacks, but the benefits greatly outweigh them. If you try to eat a diet without it, you have to go through numerous hoops to be able to get the nutrients you lose by not eating meat. But with proper diet management and only eating clean unprocessed meats, alongside the other components of a balanced diet, you can enjoy a much happier, tastier life.

Works Cited:

Source 1

Wyness L. The role of red meat in the diet: nutrition and health benefits. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2016;75(3):227-232. doi:10.1017/S0029665115004267

Source 2

Radke, A. (2018). Growing evidence supports many benefits of meat-based diets. BEEF Exclusive Insight, 1.

Source 3

Singh, Jitendra, and Anju Dinkar. "A strict vegetarian diet may be harmful: bilateral macular bleeding in vitamin B12 deficiency." Oxford Medical Case Reports, vol. 2023, no. 9, Sept. 2023, pp. 317+. Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A775957419/HRCA?u=pasc15962&sid=bookmark-HRCA&xid=a11c34df. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.

Source 4

Giromini, C., & Givens, D. I. (2023). Meat in the Diet: Differentiating the Benefits and Risks of Different Types of Meat. Foods, 12(12). https://doi-org.columbiabasin.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/foods12122363

Source 5

Dhakal, S., Hossain, M., & Parajuli, S. (2025). Red meat consumption in higher healthy eating index diets is associated with brain health critical nutritional adequacy, and fecal microbial diversity. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 1–12. https://doi-org.columbiabasin.idm.oclc.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18907-w

Source 6

Radnitz, C. Ni, J., Dennis D., Cerrito, B. “Health benefits of a Vegan Diet: Current Insights” https://www.dovepress.com/health-benefits-of-a-vegan-diet-current-insights-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NDS