In contrast to the dietary patterns of most primates, human populations obtain a significant, though variable, portion of their calorie intake from the consumption of other vertebrates. Within this category, mammalian red meat is considered by some as the highest quality source of nutrition available. However, there is controversy regarding the evolutionary significance of the relative roles of hunting versus scavenging for mammalian meat, as well as its means of processing and preparation. Paleoanthropological data, such as butchery tools in the fossil record, indicate that access to red meat and other animal tissues likely predated the emergence of the genus Homo, and that its consumption likely increased during successful expansion of the lineage. Given the high nutritive value of red meat for present-day humans, especially during specific life history stages (e.g., pregnancy, lactation, weaning, and childhood development), it is reasonable to suggest that access to red meat contributed to overall survival and, ultimately, the evolution and emergence of our species. Today, however, increased red meat intake is linked to an epidemic of chronic diseases, such as cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and contributes to substantial environmental degradation and climate change. Chronic red meat consumption is a non-trivial dilemma, given that it's increasingly becoming a prominent dietary component in many low- and middle-income countries. Here we discuss relevant information spanning from ~3 million years ago to the present, highlighting how throughout human evolution red meat may have transformed from a “blessing” to a “curse.”

The video of this presentation is available here.