“Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible,” warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres at a climate conference in November. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” Here’s how climate change is already putting us at risk...and what you can do about it.
Serving for serving, beef creates far more greenhouse gases than any other food. And processed meats like bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and cold cuts increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Yet Americans eat much more meat than most of the world. And American men eat far more meat than American women. No doubt, many men enjoy their burgers, bacon, steak, and ribs. But could some men also prefer red meat because it’s considered “manly”? Researchers decided to find out.
“When we say we’ve got some big news, we mean Big Mouth big,” crowed Chili’s October press release announcing four new burgers.
“Because go big or go home, right? Two of the new Big Mouth Burgers boast two (yes, TWO) beef patties for a full pound of beef!”
Just what you—and our sweltering planet—need! (See cover story.) Remember when people thought a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder was big? Half-pounders soon made them look puny. But that was just the start.
When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and diet, some changes pack a bigger punch than others.
“We looked at the thousands and thousands of different food items that individuals reported eating in the previous 24 hours, and ranked them,” says Diego Rose, professor of nutrition and food security at Tulane University.
“We believe beef can be a solution for climate change,” says the Low Carbon Beef website.
“Backed by rigorous life-cycle assessments and process verification, Low Carbon Beef delivers a high-quality, environmentally conscious certification so that we can all feel good about putting beef on the grill.”
Does red meat boost the risk of frailty?
Scientists tracked some 86,000 women aged 60 or older for 14 years. Frailty was defined as having at least three of five criteria: fatigue, low strength, reduced aerobic capacity, unintentional weight loss, or at least five chronic illnesses like arthritis, cancer, depression, heart attack, hypertension, stroke, or type 2 diabetes.
“More and more evidence is showing that there isn’t a lot of benefit from extra protein, whether you’re engaged in resistance training or not,” says Bettina Mittendorfer, professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
With science news laser-focused on the coronavirus pandemic, research on other topics has taken a back seat. Here are some recent study results that may come as a surprise.
“Cancer is complicated because each cancer has a different set of risk factors acting at different ages,” cautions Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But a plant-forward diet can help you dodge at least one cause of one cancer.
