A vitamin-like essential nutrient found mainly in animal foods including eggs, meat, poultry, fish and dairy foods.
Published in Chapter:
The Health Impact of Eating Foods of Animal Origin: Evidence Regarding Animal Foods, Health, and Disease Risk
Kate Marsh (Northside Nutrition and Dietetics, Australia), Angela Saunders (Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing, Australia), and Carol Zeuschner (Sydney Adventist Hospital, Australia)
Copyright: © 2018
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-4757-0.ch002
Abstract
While foods of animal origin, including red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy foods, are good sources of protein and other nutrients including iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, there is increasing evidence to suggest that regular consumption of animal foods may negatively impact health and disease risk. This chapter reviews the evidence linking high intakes of animal foods with chronic disease risk, particularly type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and discusses some of the possible mechanisms to explain the association between animal food intake and disease risk. The benefits of plant-based and low-animal food options as solutions to reducing these risks are also discussed, along with implications and recommendations for adopting such diets.