Red meat can help your mood if part of a healthy, balanced diet, study suggests

Lean red meat could support mental health as long as it’s part of an overall healthy diet, according to an exploratory new study.

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) analyzed data from the American Gut Project, a large, open-source microbiome initiative with over 11,000 participants. 

The study, published as an abstract in May in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, examined 4,915 adults and grouped them by red-meat intake and diet quality based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which scores diets on a scale of 0 to 100.

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Participants with higher HEI scores — regardless of red-meat intake — were less likely to report depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bipolar disorder. 

But those who ate red meat as part of a high-quality diet showed additional benefits. 

Those benefits include higher protein intake; better adequacy of key brain-supporting nutrients such as zinc, selenium, vitamin B-12 and choline, which help regulate memory, mood, muscle control and other functions; and a more diverse gut microbiota.

Previous studies have found that gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which are central to mood regulation, cognition and stress response and resilience. 

Lean red meat had a slightly less disruptive effect on the gut than chicken, Fox News Digital previously reported.

“What was really compelling was the significant nutritional benefit we saw in healthy eaters who consumed red meat,” Samitinjaya Dhakal, assistant professor at SDSU’s School of Health and Human Sciences, said in a news release. 

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The preliminary findings, he added, support a “less rigid” approach to healthy eating that focuses on dietary patterns rather than cutting out certain foods altogether, like red meat, which previous research has linked to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

“This suggests the public health message shouldn’t be about complete elimination — but about building a high-quality diet into which lean red meat can fit,” Dhakal said. 

Yet experts warn that other research has tied red and processed meat to poor physical and cognitive health outcomes. 

A 2020 United Kingdom study of adults aged 37 to 73 linked higher red-meat consumption to weaker problem-solving, short-term memory and planning skills.

And a 10-year study of over 133,000 U.S. nurses found that eating red meat — particularly processed types like bacon and sausage — was tied to faster memory decline and a higher risk of dementia.

“This study makes the important distinction of assessing red meat in the context of a healthy diet.”

“It’s worth remembering that we still have decades of evidence linking processed and high-fat meats to things like heart disease and diabetes,” noted Jenny Shields, Ph.D., a clinical health psychologist based in The Woodlands, Texas. 

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“This study doesn’t erase that,” Shields told Fox News Digital. “What it does say is that, in the context of an already healthy diet, a moderate amount of lean red meat doesn’t seem to cause harm, and it may help fill gaps in nutrients like B-12 or zinc.”

A balanced diet can play a powerful part in the foundation for better focus, energy and mood, she said.

Long-term studies that directly compare diets with and without red meat would be needed to prove correlation instead of just causation, she added.

“Our next phase of research will involve prospective and controlled interventional studies on how different dietary patterns and specific diet components influence nutrient adequacy and brain health,” Dhakal said. 

Shalene McNeill, a registered dietitian nutritionist and executive director of nutrition research for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), based in Colorado — which provided funding for the research — told Fox News Digital that many studies that link red and processed meat to chronic disease evaluate meat intake as part of unhealthy dietary patterns and lifestyles. 

“This study makes the important distinction of assessing red meat in the context of a healthy diet,” she said.

The full study is currently under review for publication.