Extra Helping of Heart Attack, Medium Rare

Dispelling the Myths about Beef Part 5

When I was 15, my science teacher told me I could change the color of my skin by eating too many carrots. Challenge accepted. For the rest of the semester, I ate two cups of baby carrots with my brown bag lunch every day. Once a week at dinner I included a carrot soup with ginger, garlic, and yogurt (a recipe I still have). And for good measure, I threw back the occasional carrot and fruit smoothie.

It took four weeks before the palms of my hands started looking sunburned. By Christmas break, the backs of my ears and neck were orange. On New Year’s Eve, I looked like an Oompa Loompa. Panicked, but satisfied with my little experiment, I stopped eating carrots, and before winter break was over, my natural color had returned.

 I guess I confirmed my Enlightened Omnivore mantra, “everything in moderation.”

And that’s what I think of when I hear the biggest Beef Myth of all.

Myth #5: Red meat and beef specifically are the leading cause of cardiovascular disease.