CUT BEEF SOME SLACK, HAVE SOME VEGETABLES.
A lot of people love beef- spiced, boiled or grilled. In some houses, the pieces of meat in your food is equal to your rank in the family or your importance: and sometimes it indicates celebratory event like your birthday or good grades. A large number of people favour beef over vegetables or must at least have beef to compliment the vegetables.
A very uncommon meal in a typical Nigeria homes is the vegetable salad. When you’re seen eating without meat, it raises questions like “are you on a diet?” or “are you sick?”. Some people even associate a pot of beef stew to affluence, “you have money o. You’re eating meat everyday.”
But is it okay to make meals beef-based and forget vegetables?
As amazing as beef is, not just in taste even healthwise, continuous consumption without adequate balance with vegetables (soups, salads, some of which can be eaten raw) can cause deadly consequences.
Beef is associated with weight gain due to the number of calories. Unchecked weight gain can in turn lead to being overweight or being obese. This in itself has so many social disadvantages such as body shaming (which by the way is by no means acceptable); and health implications because there are a host of other diseases lurking at the corner. One of such diseases is type 2 diabetes that develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin which in many humans is caused by genetics and being overweight and inactive. If you watch weight loss shows like Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian or It’s Your Fault I’m Fat, you will see how these individuals are tested for diseases and how their diets are usually remade to incorporate more of vegetables which would in turn reduce their blood glucose levels.
Colorectal cancer is a disease associated with a diet containing high fat (beef and other red meat) and low fibre (majorly vegetables). People that are inactive, obese or diabetic are susceptible to the disease.
As if these are not enough, there are onslaughts of heart diseases linked with high consumption of beef! One of the most common being the coronary heart disease which is a condition where the coronary arteries become clogged with deposits of cholesterol. What’s more? Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attack. People with high fat diet, diabetes and obesity have the risk of developing CHD.
Do you have to cut off beef totally? No, that is not the point. The point is reducing the amount you take in. Adjust your diet to accommodate more vegetables. Take a challenge to have a “meat-less” day at least once in a week.
The point is, please cut beef some slack and have some vegetables.
Temilolaoluwa Edun
Member, NIMELSSA EDITORIAL TEAM 19/20
Comments