{"id":73864,"date":"2022-07-21T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=73864"},"modified":"2022-08-02T13:43:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T17:43:14","slug":"does-meat-make-you-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/does-meat-make-you-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Meat Make You Fat? Scientists Can&#8217;t Agree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Does meat make you fat? How does eating meat contribute to weight gain? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to meat&#8217;s fattening potential, there seems to be a division of opinion, even amongst scientists. Some say that meat (especially, lean meat such as chicken breast) is great for weight loss because it contains no carbs. Others say that eating meat is associated with weight gain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s what Dr. Jason Fung says on the matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-meat-is-associated-with-weight-gain\">Meat Is Associated With Weight Gain <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Does meat make you fat? Meat\u2014like all foods\u2014raises insulin levels, and insulin is a fat-storage hormone. In fact, animal protein stimulates far more insulin release than dietary fats. Vegetable proteins stimulate far less insulin release than meat and dairy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Jason Fung, the author of<em> The Obesity Code<\/em>, meat is generally associated with weight gain. One study he cites found that for each additional daily serving of meat, subjects gained one additional pound. Fung speculates that this may be due to the industrial production of meats\u2014that is, animals fed with corn and grains, rather than their natural diets, produce meats that are less healthy for consumption. (Shortform note: Grain-fed beef, for example, does have a higher proportion of saturated fat than grass-fed beef. Additionally, factory-farmed meats are often treated with antibiotics and drugs\u2014in effect, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piedmont.org\/living-better\/the-difference-between-grass-fed-and-grain-fed-beef\">eating grain-fed beef means eating the meat of an unnaturally obese cow<\/a>. Some believe that this is intuitively unwise, though the science is still out.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What About Dairy? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast to meat, research finds that dairy products such as whole milk and cheese do not cause weight gain. In fact, large studies found that some dairy products, such as yogurt, may even promote weight loss. Fung suggests that this is because dairy is very filling: While you could eat a pound of chicken, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to eat a pound of cheddar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Other sources report that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/blog\/dairy-health-food-or-health-risk-2019012515849\">the science on dairy is mixed<\/a>. Studies seem to swing back and forth: One reports that dairy does not contribute to weight loss unless it\u2019s part of a calorie-restricted diet; another reports that fermented dairy such as yogurt might protect against heart disease. In the end, most experts agree that dairy is a good source of calcium, protein, and dietary fat, yet it\u2019s not strictly necessary for a healthy diet.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does meat make you fat? How does eating meat contribute to weight gain? When it comes to meat&#8217;s fattening potential, there seems to be a division of opinion, even amongst scientists. Some say that meat (especially, lean meat such as chicken breast) is great for weight loss because it contains no carbs. Others say that eating meat is associated with weight gain. Here&#8217;s what Dr. Jason Fung says on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[703],"class_list":["post-73864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-health","tag-the-obesity-code","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does Meat Make You Fat? Scientists Can&#039;t Agree - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does meat make you fat? 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When it comes to meat&#039;s fattening potential, there seems to be a division of opinion, even amongst scientists.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/does-meat-make-you-fat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-21T17:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T17:43:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/burger-double-background.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/does-meat-make-you-fat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/does-meat-make-you-fat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Does Meat Make You Fat? 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