It should be no surprise that extreme eating habits can be detrimental to one's health. Supporting prior evidence of the harm of overdoing red and processed meats, a recent National Cancer Institute study of more than a half million older Americans found that a diet high in these foods causes a modest but statistically significant increase in the risk of death from heart disease and cancer.

A well-balanced diet is essential to proper development, growth, and the maintenance of health, and studies indicate that balancing your diet helps decrease the risk of chronic disease. In 2002 the Institute of Medicine released "Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids", a report that recommends science-based amounts of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that people need to maintain health. It states that adults should get 10 percent to 35 percent of their calories from protein each day. The report also recommended that people keep their intake of saturated fat , trans fat, and cholesterol as low as possible because they raise people's risk for coronary heart disease. Red meat contains significant amounts of both saturated fat and cholesterol.

Because proteins, fats, and carbohydrates can substitute for one another as calorie sources, the report did not recommend a specific amount of meat or other protein sources that people should eat daily. The National Institutes of Health estimate that the average adult should consume approximately four ounces of meat per day and most Americans eat more than this.

过度的饮食习惯会危害健康这点应该没有人会觉得奇怪。美国癌协的一份以500,000多位年长美国人为对象研究报告为过度红色和加工肉类的危害提供了重要的证据支持，研究发现高含此类食物的食谱会一定程度上导致心脏病和癌症病发死亡风险统计显著性提高。

营养均衡的饮食对健康的适当发展，改善和维护都是至关重要的，而且研究显示均衡的饮食可以帮助降低患慢性病的风险。2002年药协发布了一份名为《获取能量，糖，纤维素，脂肪，脂肪酸，胆固醇，蛋白质，氨基酸的参考食谱》的报告，报告推荐了人们为维护健康所需的蛋白质，脂肪和糖的科学份量。根据报告说明，成年人每天所需热量的10%-35%应该从蛋白质中获取。报告还建议人们应尽可能的减少饱和脂肪，反型脂肪和胆固醇的摄入，因为这些会提高人们得冠心病的风险。而红色肉类含有大量的饱和脂肪和胆固醇。

因为蛋白质，脂肪和糖作为热量来源可以相互替代，所以报告并没有推荐人们每天应该吃的肉或其他蛋白来源的确切份量。国家健康协会估计一般成人每天应该吃大概四盎司的肉，而大部分美国人的食量都超过了这个数据。