It occurred to me, watching my kid be picky about where a burger comes from, that I have not eaten beef in 20 years. How I got here is strange.
In 2005, which was a crisis year in so many ways for me, I had an annual physical, and not surprisingly, my cholesterol was crazy high. My LDL was something ridiculous, maybe over 200. I was also inactive, which changed when I started coaching high school volleyball. I was eating a lot of beef, mostly fast food burgers. So I just stopped, figuring that was a serious contributing factor. For whatever reason, it stuck.
By the time I got back into a good rhythm of annual physicals, after moving down here, my LDL was still high, in the 130-150 range. It should be below 100. When I started to see my current doctor, emerging from the pandemic, she convinced me to start taking a statin, and it has mostly been below 50 ever since. So I'm good there, even if my triglycerides still are not. But I've never had any desire to start eating red meat again. I'm just not interested, and I've gone this long without it.
Sure, that makes me even more of a picky, high-maintenance eater. And as it turns out, beef is an awfully inefficient way to produce food. It takes four times as much feed per pound of beef compared to chicken, and of course chickens fart methane a lot less methane. Despite the environmental impact, I'm not opposed to beef production, but it's just not a food I need.
If only I could trick my brain into liking more things that are good for me.
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