Traditional meat is better for you: Wagyu vs. Kangaroo

Posted on Wed, 16 Jun 10

The transition from our traditional hunter-gatherer diet to modern foods is thought to play an important role in the development of disease such as heart disease, certain cancers and obesity. In line with this notion a new study suggests that wild game meats are a healthier choice.

Wild vs. Conventional

Many chronic diseases are thought to be the result of low grade inflammation caused by recent changes in our environment, diet and lifestyle. One such negative change may have been the transition from lean game meats to fatty modern livestock breeds. To test this hypothesis a research group from Australia decided to compare Kangaroo (an example of wild game meat that has been consumed over a millennia) to Wagyu (a type of beef hybridised in only the last few decades).

For the study participants ate a meal of kangaroo or wagyu (with the fat trimmed) and had their blood levels of inflammation measured after the meal.  Compared to the lean game meat (Kangaroo) the hybridised beef (Wagyu) had a pronounced effect on inflammation suggesting a negative effect of Wagyu, and perhaps other types of modern beef.

You are what you eat eats

Commenting on their findings the authors suggest that “it would also be of interest to measure inflammatory effects within free-range v. domesticated animals themselves, in line with the principle that ‘we are not just what we eat, but what we eat, eats’.... food for thought.

Reference:

Arya F, et al. Differences in postprandial inflammatory responses to a 'modern' v. traditional meat meal: a preliminary study. Br J Nutr. 2010 Apr 9:1-5.