# Can Meat and Meat-Products Induce Oxidative Stress?

## TL;DR

This review explores how meat and meat-products may contribute to oxidative stress, a factor linked to degenerative diseases.

## Contribution

The paper introduces the need for accurate meat classification and highlights diet–gene interactions in oxidative stress susceptibility.

## Key findings

- Oxidation compounds like malondialdehyde and oxysterols are linked to meat consumption and oxidative stress.
- Diet–gene interactions and individual susceptibility to oxidative stress are emphasized for future research.
- Plant-based nutrients like iron and biophenols may modulate meat's impact on gut microbiota and metabolism.

## Abstract

High meat and meat-products consumption has been related to degenerative diseases. In addition to their saturated fatty acids and cholesterol contents, oxidation products generated during their production, storage, digestion, and metabolization have been largely implicated. This review begins by summarizing the concept of meat and meat-products by the main international regulatory agencies while highlighting the nutritional importance of their consumption. The review also dials in the controversy of white/red meat classification and insists in the need of more accurate classification based on adequate scores. Since one of the negative arguments that meat receives comes from the association of its consumption with the increase in oxidative stress, main oxidation compounds (malondialdehyde, thermaloxidized compounds, 4-hydroxy-nonenal, oxysterols, or protein carbonyls) generated during its production, storage, and metabolization, are included as a central aspect of the work. The review includes future remarks addressed to study the effects meat consumption in the frame of diet–gene interactions, stressing the importance of knowing the genetic variables that make individuals more susceptible to a possible oxidative stress imbalance or antioxidant protection. The importance of consumed meat/meat-products in the frame of a personalized nutrition reach in plant-food is finally highlighted considering the importance of iron and plant biophenols on the microbiota abundance and plurality, which in turn affect several aspects of our physiology and metabolism.