Why Blaming Meat and Dairy for Our Health Issues Misses the Mark: The Real Culprit Behind Modern Diet Woes

For thousands of years, meat, eggs, and dairy have been integral parts of the human diet. They’ve sustained civilizations, nourished populations, and served as key sources of essential nutrients. Yet, in recent decades, these very foods have become targets of blame for a wide range of modern health issues. Meanwhile, processed foods—products that have only existed for roughly the last century—often escape this scrutiny, despite being loaded with ingredients that have been linked to many of the health problems we face today.

This shift in focus raises an important question: why have we started blaming traditional animal foods, which have been part of human diets for millennia, while largely giving processed foods a pass?

The Evolution of Our Diets

For most of human history, our ancestors relied on a combination of hunting, gathering, and eventually farming to sustain themselves. Animal foods like meat, eggs, and dairy provided them with high-quality protein, vitamins, and minerals. These foods were not just survival essentials; they played a critical role in the development of human physiology and brain function. Nutrient-dense, bioavailable, and satiating, animal foods helped ensure that early humans had the energy and nutrients necessary to thrive.

By contrast, processed foods are a very recent addition to the human diet. The industrialization of food production in the 20th century gave rise to highly processed, calorie-dense products that bear little resemblance to the raw ingredients they’re made from. Processed foods are often stripped of nutrients, loaded with sugar, unhealthy fats, artificial additives, and preservatives. Despite this, these foods have become an ever-present part of modern diets.

As our food landscape has shifted, so too has the narrative around what is and isn’t healthy. Animal foods, once revered, are now frequently vilified. But does this vilification truly reflect the root causes of the chronic diseases and health issues that plague modern society?

The Rise of Processed Foods

Processed foods became widespread in the early 20th century, with the advent of canning, refrigeration, and other technologies that made food easier to store and transport. Convenience became the new priority, and companies began developing products that could last longer on shelves and cater to busy lifestyles.

The result was a boom in packaged goods, which often relied on additives, artificial flavors, and other synthetic ingredients to maintain taste, texture, and shelf life. These foods, high in refined sugars, trans fats, and excess sodium, quickly became dietary staples.

Over the last 100 years, the consumption of processed foods has skyrocketed. Today, they account for a large portion of the average diet, particularly in Western countries. Foods like sugary cereals, processed meats, pre-packaged snacks, and frozen meals are not only convenient but also designed to be hyper-palatable—meaning they are formulated to be almost irresistibly tasty, encouraging overconsumption.

This shift away from whole foods, particularly the meat, eggs, and dairy that sustained generations, coincided with a rise in many modern health issues: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Yet, instead of placing blame on the influx of these highly processed foods, we’ve increasingly turned our attention to the traditional foods our ancestors relied on.

The Scapegoating of Animal Foods

In the last few decades, animal foods have been widely criticized, particularly in relation to heart disease, cancer, and environmental concerns. Meat, eggs, and dairy have been labeled as culprits in the rise of chronic illnesses, with much of the attention focused on their fat content, especially saturated fats. The idea that these foods, long consumed by humans, are responsible for modern health problems has gained traction in part due to influential studies from the mid-20th century, which suggested links between animal fat and heart disease.

However, a growing body of research now challenges these simplistic assumptions. Numerous studies have found that the quality of the diet, rather than specific types of food, is more critical. For instance, processed meats (like hot dogs or bacon) may increase health risks, but whole cuts of unprocessed meat, such as steak or chicken, do not pose the same dangers. Similarly, eggs and dairy products can be part of a healthy diet, especially when consumed in their whole, unprocessed forms.

Moreover, it’s becoming increasingly clear that processed foods, with their empty calories and lack of nutrients, are more directly linked to obesity, metabolic disorders, and inflammation. Highly processed diets have been associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases, while diets that emphasize whole, unprocessed foods, including animal products, are linked to better health outcomes.

Processed Foods: The Real Culprit?

Given the rise of processed foods and the simultaneous increase in lifestyle diseases, it seems increasingly misguided to scapegoat traditional animal foods for our modern health woes. While it’s true that the overconsumption of certain types of meat, particularly when processed or fried, can contribute to health issues, it’s the quality and composition of the entire diet that matter most.

Processed foods, often high in sugar, trans fats, and additives, contribute to the very conditions we’re blaming on animal foods—obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. These products are designed for convenience and profitability, not for health. They are cheap, widely available, and heavily marketed, making them an easy choice in our fast-paced, convenience-driven world.

Conclusion: Rethinking Our Food Choices

The idea that animal foods are to blame for our modern health issues doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Human diets evolved around these foods, and they have provided essential nutrition for centuries. It’s the rise of processed foods, with their artificial ingredients and empty calories, that better explains the surge in chronic diseases. Instead of blaming the foods that nourished our ancestors, we should be rethinking our consumption of the highly processed products that dominate today’s food landscape.

By shifting our focus back to whole, nutrient-dense foods—whether plant-based or animal-based—we can reclaim a healthier, more balanced approach to eating.