New dietary guidelines are released every five years, and the preview report from the Advisory Committee on the next set of guidelines included a surprising recommendation for people to reduce red meat consumption in favor of beans, peas, and lentils.
Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays is visiting with the Executive Director of Nutrition Research at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Dr. Shalene McNeill, about the committee that came up with the new dietary recommendations. This is the second of a two-part conversation. The first can be found here.
“I don’t think that science is driving this process,” McNeill said. “The committee has looked at the evidence, but when it comes to red meat, they aren’t looking at a complete body of the evidence.”
Scientific evidence has proven that beef is part of a healthy diet, and millions of Americans are already eating it regularly. McNeill worried that members of the committee are somewhat out of touch as a scientific community, which she admitted is easy to do.
“We need to take a look at what is going on out in our country. What is going on in people’s diets,” she said. “We need help to get the diet healthier than it is today, but we don’t have to cut back on beef in order to do that.”
She said that on the same day that the committee released the recommended dietary guidelines report, the University of Arkansas published research showing that ground beef aids in the development of muscle tissue better than plant proteins do.
“We know that not all proteins are created equal,” McNeill emphasized. “We know that beef builds better muscle health than plant-based alternatives. So, substituting beans in place of beef just doesn’t make sense. You are going to get more calories, less quality protein, and not going to get bio-available iron. It is not going to help achieve the direction that we are all trying to get to – which is a healthier America.”
Research shows that Americans are only eating an average of about 1.5 oz. of beef per day, but certain groups such as adolescent girls, pregnant women, and the elderly, are meeting important nutrient deficiencies through eating more beef.
“We simply can’t afford to cut back on beef intake in the American diet and ensure that we are getting the nutrients in these limited amounts of calories that many of us need,” McNeill reiterated.
She and the NCBA team want to make sure that the public understands that the dietary guidelines report doesn’t support scientific evidence or the practicality of what Americans desire as part of a healthy diet.
“One of the things this committee said is that they want to be practical and relevant, yet these recommendations are so far from that. We need to call attention to this and ask for common-sense nutrition guidelines. Meat needs to be as big a part of that as it has been, and I think we can make a case in a lot of ways to argue for more meat in the diet for health as well.”
NCBA will weigh in on the issue and submit additional scientific comments. McNeill added that producers can also get involved by texting the word BEEF to 52886 to help inform Senators and Representatives of their opinions. NCBA has published documents to help people talk to their policymakers.
“It’s time to listen and get engaged on this topic,” she said. “Because I think it is a really important matter for public health.”
A preliminary report will be officially published, likely around mid-December, and then sent to the USDA and HHS so that they can create the actual dietary guidelines based on it, but an open comment period will become available before the process is complete.
McNeill encouraged producers to watch for that open comment period and be ready to weigh in. She said, “I think we’ve got a great story to tell about the research. We also have great consumer research that says people are looking for beef as part of a healthy diet, and we need to continue to weigh in on that because where we are today just does not make sense for the long-term gain, which is improving healthy eating in America.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
