healthcare

The steak has ceased to be a simple gastronomic whim and has become the banner of an ideological, health and almost religious movement. The materialization of this phenomenon took place recently in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, during the celebration of Meatstocka three-day convention that brought together more than 1,400 devotees of the carnivore diet. This event has been much more than a gastronomic fair. As detailed in a report by The New York Timesattendees could be seen consuming glasses of raw milk and dipping pieces of beef brisket in butter. During the event, attendees did not share recipes, but rather “testimonies”, exchanging stories about how eliminating any trace of vegetables from their dishes and living exclusively on meat had cured them from arthritis to diabetes or mental health disorders. Far from being a simple internet eccentricity, this group continues to grow, driven by a very effective glue: the frontal rejection of traditional doctors. And they are serious. The official website of Meatstock 2027 is already warming up for its next convention in Nashville with a slogan that does not hide his political ambitions: “Make America Meaty Again” (Make America Carnivorous Again). The rebellion against broccoli In the conference rooms of Meatstockthe atmosphere resembles that of a rally. The attendees idolize influencers with nicknames like Steak and Butter Gal and listen to testimonials from content creators like Serena Musick. When the latter is asked if she doesn’t miss “being normal” and eating something other than meat, her response, cited by him New York Timesis revealing of the general feeling: “If being normal means that you can’t exercise, and (…) that you can’t get up without your knees or back hurting, then I don’t want to be normal.” The ecosystem that surrounds this community borders on the margins of what is established. At the convention, they sell everything from raw cheeses and butters—labeled “for pets” to circumvent legal prohibitions on sales for human consumption—to bovine tallow lotions that young people like Verónica Eggleston, 24, use to replace traditional sunscreens. Even side businesses are popping up, like carnivore-only matchmaking services, created by people who refuse to date partners who believe in “conventional medicine.” This frontal rejection of science has powerful speakers on social networks. According to MIT Technology Reviewdoctors like Anthony Chaffee accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers promoting that the key to health is “eliminate everything except fatty meat and lard”, while other doctors unabashedly affirm that the vegetable contains “antinutrients”. But the movement’s definitive leap has occurred in the upper echelons. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health of the US government, has admitted to following this pattern: “I only eat meat or fermented foods,” declaredclaiming that it helped him lose 40% of visceral fat in one month. Your circle of trust supports this vision; FDA Commissioner Martin Makary has defended “clean meats” as “biblical” and sharply criticized government recommendations on limiting saturated fats. The coup d’état to the nutritional pyramid This cocktail of ideology and activism has caused an unprecedented institutional earthquake. Just a few years ago, the world seemed to be rowing in the opposite direction. As I analyzed in an article for Xatakasociety was in the midst of the era of “Protein Chic”where vegetable protein (lentils, beans, peas) was positioned at the top of official recommendations to prevent cancer and promote healthy aging, supported by institutions such as Stanford University. However, the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (GDA) 2025-2030 they have dynamited four decades of consensus. A critical analysis in The Conversation reveals how the US government has established a controversial “inverted pyramid” that crowns red meat, beef fat and full-fat dairy products as priority foods, while legumes disappear from the graphic representation and cereals fall to the bottom. The seriousness of the matter, according to complaint The Conversationlies in the procedure. The government ignored the original 421-page report prepared in a transparent manner by an independent Advisory Committee. Instead, it imposed an express six-month review led by a panel with clear links to the livestock and dairy industry. This parallel committee discarded most scientific recommendations under the false premise that previous guidelines (which the population barely followed) were to blame for the obesity epidemic, and even included ideological mentions of the promotion of male “testosterone.” From carnivorous babies to scientific clamor The ramifications of this narrative turn are already palpable in the sectors most vulnerable. In forums like Carnivore Motherhoodmothers feed their six-month-old babies raw yolks, pureed liver and marrow, eliminating any trace of fruit or vegetables. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes meat as a great source of iron and zinc in complementary foods, but pediatrician Mark Corkins is strict about exclusivity: “Without vitamin C and fiber, the development of connective tissue and the intestinal microbiome is potentially irreversibly compromised.” The stupefaction at this institutional drift has been global and has not taken long to be articulated across multiple fronts. In the scientific field, the rejection is frontal: more than two hundred doctors and researchers They have sent an urgent letter to the US government demanding that scientific sanity be restored. The prestigious medical journal adds to this complaint The Lancet, who has not hesitated to qualify the new US guidelines as “a recipe for worse health”, defining the model as contradictory, anti-scientific and totally unsustainable on an environmental level. This intense debate has also reached popular publications. Nutritionist Marc Vergés defends in the magazine Body and Mind the increase in protein consumption proposed by the guidelines to stop the loss of muscle mass in the population. However, in the same publication, Dr. Odile Fernández is blunt in her reply: she warns that an excess of animal protein in those under 65 years of age increases mortality. Furthermore, the doctor points out that equating beef fat with unsaturated fats lacks any scientific support and puts citizens’ cardiovascular health at serious risk. But the danger of these new guidelines goes beyond the purely physiological and has a full impact on mental health. From clinical practice, nutritionist Laura Jorge … Read more