Meat: A Comprehensive Analysis of Benefits and Controversies

# “MEAT HAS NOT SPOKEN ITS LAST WORD”: A RESEARCHER ASSOCIATED WITH INRAE CHALLENGES THE CASE AGAINST MEAT

*by Laurent Glatz – for Athletic Carnivore*

For years, meat has been on trial. Too fatty, dangerous for the heart, linked to cancers, bad for the planet, nutritionally outdated… Repeating these accusations so often has nearly erased a fundamental question from the debate: **have we truly evaluated meat for what it contributes to the human body, or only for the risks attributed to it?**

This is precisely the question addressed by Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury, professor of animal sciences, researcher associated with INRAE, and specialist in the nutritional quality of meats. In January 2026, she published with Éditions du Rocher a book with a particularly explicit title: *Meat Has Not Spoken Its Last Word – The Truth About an Essential Food*.

The value of this publication lies not only in its title but especially in the background of its author.

Who is Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury? A Scientific Career Spanning Over Twenty Years

Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury is neither a diet influencer nor a media personality. She has an academic and scientific background dedicated to livestock farming, animal physiology, and the nutritional characteristics of meat products.

Graduated as an agricultural engineer from AgroSup Dijon in 2001, she earned a master’s degree in animal sciences and nutrition at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in 2002, followed by a doctorate in animal sciences at the University of Burgundy in 2006. Her thesis focused on the relationships between farming practices and the sensory quality of Charolais heifer meat.

She worked at AgroSup Dijon until 2009 before joining Bordeaux Sciences Agro. In 2018, she obtained her habilitation to supervise research, focusing on optimizing farming practices and balancing animal efficiency, nutritional quality, and sensory quality of meats. After passing the professor competition in 2022, she became a full professor in 2023.

Today, she is a professor of animal sciences and deputy director of research at Bordeaux Sciences Agro. She is also a researcher associated with UMR Herbivores, a research unit combining INRAE, University Clermont Auvergne, and VetAgro Sup.

Her expertise goes far beyond the simple composition of a meat cut. Her work covers animal proteins, lipids, sensory qualities, farming practices, agricultural sustainability, and methods to predict product quality. She notably participates in the international RUMQUAL laboratory, developed with New Zealand’s AgResearch.

Her career also includes expert activities for the FAO, particularly on food products derived from cellular agriculture and ecosystem services of livestock farming. She reports having been heard by the French Senate in February 2023 on the challenges of cultivated meat. A member of the Meat Academy since 2023, she has contributed to scientific works on animal sectors and agroecology.

This background deserves emphasis because she does not focus solely on meat on the plate. She also studies animals, their diet, their environment, and the mechanisms determining the final quality of products.

Her work is conducted in collaboration with research organizations and agricultural sector stakeholders. This helps understand her expertise without assuming her conclusions are automatically indisputable.

Her 2026 Book: Why Meat Deserves a More Complete Analysis

Published on January 21, 2026, her 256-page book examines four questions: the nutritional interest of meat, the role of animal products in human diets, alternatives proposed by industry, and the environmental consequences of different farming systems.

On February 2, 2026, Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury herself published a summary of her argumentation in the specialized journal *Viandes & Produits Carnés*, reference VPC-2026-41-35.

Her reflection begins with an observation: we often discuss meat as if it were a single food, presenting the same properties everywhere and coming from identical production systems.

Yet, between a ribeye from pasture-raised cattle, meat from an intensive system, and a highly processed meat product, differences in composition, production, and processing can be significant.

However, in many discussions, everything ends up lumped under one word: meat.

Proteins, Iron, Vitamin B12: What Meat Actually Provides to the Human Body

The first argument developed by the researcher concerns nutritional density.

Meat proteins provide the nine indispensable amino acids that the human body must obtain from food. These molecules participate notably in tissue building and renewal, enzymatic functions, and muscle recovery.

Plant proteins also provide essential amino acids. The difference lies notably in their proportions, digestibility, and the amount of food required to meet certain needs.

The same distinction exists for iron. Heme iron found in meat is generally better absorbed than non-heme iron from plants. Iron is involved in hemoglobin formation, essential for oxygen transport. Insufficient intake can contribute to decreased physical performance, fatigue, and, when deficiency sets in, anemia.

Vitamin B12 plays a role in red blood cell formation and neurological function. Animal foods are major natural sources, although a diet without animal products can meet needs through fortified foods or appropriate supplementation.

**But interesting nutritional data does not automatically mean a person should increase their meat consumption.**

This is where the question of individual context becomes essential. The needs of an endurance athlete, an elderly person facing muscle loss, and a sedentary adult are not the same.

The FAO already emphasized in its 2023 report on animal-source foods their significant contribution to quality protein and micronutrient intake, while also recalling the health and environmental challenges of production systems.

Plant-Based Substitutes: Does Replacing a Food Really Replace Its Nutrition?

Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury also dedicates part of her book to meat substitutes: plant-based preparations, insect proteins, precision fermentation, and lab-grown meat.

The question is particularly relevant. A product may visually resemble a steak, display a comparable protein amount, yet not have exactly the same nutritional characteristics.

In July 2024, a scientific review by Xie et al., published in *Food Research International* (DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114460), examined differences between meats and plant-based analogues. The researchers reported differences in bioavailability for certain nutrients and highlighted insufficient evidence to claim substitutes are systematically better for health.

Another systematic review published the same year in *Nutrients* by Del Bo’ et al. analyzed 19 human intervention studies. It generally observed lower availability of some amino acids after consuming plant-based substitutes, without systematically finding differences in muscle protein synthesis or physical performance in the studies examined.

In other words, compositional differences exist, but their practical consequences must be studied, not assumed.

The question is therefore not to decree that one food source is always superior to another. It is to understand what each food actually provides and how these contributions correspond to physiological needs.

Health and Cancer: Not Confusing Nutritional Value with Absence of Risk

However, it would be incorrect to turn Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury’s arguments into a claim that meat presents no risk.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, affiliated with WHO, classifies processed meats as carcinogenic to humans and unprocessed red meats as probably carcinogenic. The levels of evidence differ, and these classifications do not directly measure individual risk per portion.

In its updated statement of September 23, 2026, WHO also reminds that observed risk increases depend on consumption levels and that data on red meat are less conclusive than those on processed meats.

Thus, several questions must be distinguished: what nutrients does meat provide? What risks are associated with certain consumption patterns? And how do results vary according to quantity, processing, and overall diet?

**A food can have excellent nutritional value without justifying unlimited consumption.**

It is precisely this difference between nutritional value, level of evidence, and individual application that should guide the debate.

Is Livestock Farming Really the Enemy of the Environment?

Another point addressed in the book is the environmental impact of livestock farming.

The researcher stresses the need to differentiate farming systems. Some pasture-based farms utilize grasslands unsuitable for crops directly destined for human food. They can also contribute to maintaining certain habitats and managing territories.

This does not mean their climate footprint disappears.

The FAO estimated in its 2023 assessment that livestock agro-food systems accounted for about 12% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions based on 2015 data. International analyses also show that beef generally has a higher climate footprint than most plant foods, although farming practices cause significant variations.

The value of Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury’s reflection is thus to remind us that a full environmental assessment cannot stop at the kilogram of product alone. Resources used, land types, emissions, biodiversity, and ecosystem services provided by farms must be examined together.

This does not exempt measuring each impact. It simply avoids reducing all livestock farming to a single caricature.

What Her Work Really Changes for Athletic Carnivore

One essential point must be clarified: Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury does not advocate a strict carnivore diet. She considers meat a particularly interesting food but argues for reasoned consumption within a diversified diet.

Her book therefore does not provide scientific proof of the superiority of an exclusively animal-based diet.

However, her work aligns with a central question of Athletic Carnivore: why evaluate a diet solely through broad categories without precisely examining what it provides and how an individual responds?

An athlete can increase protein intake without improving recovery if overall energy intake or sleep remain insufficient. Another person can meet protein needs yet face digestive difficulties. A third can radically change their diet without understanding the reasons for persistent fatigue.

These situations cannot be reduced to a simple opposition between eating meat and not eating meat.

Metabolic context, activity level, dietary habits, recovery, and real needs must enter the reflection.

This is where the Athletic Carnivore approach makes sense: not presenting carnivore, low carb, or ketosis as automatic answers, but examining their relevance according to individual functioning.

One can read dozens of articles on proteins, iron, or metabolism and still not understand why one’s own body reacts differently from others.

**The real issue is not just whether meat is good or bad. It is understanding what our body receives, what it needs, and how it responds.**

Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury’s book at least has the merit of reintroducing this complexity into a debate that too often settles for simplistic answers.

What if, before condemning a food or considering it a universal solution, we started by asking a more precise question: **do I really know my nutritional needs and the reasons why my body responds as it does?**

**Analyze my individual context:** https://athleticcarnivore.fr/

Scientific and Bibliographic Sources

Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury, *Meat Has Not Spoken Its Last Word – The Truth About an Essential Food*, Éditions du Rocher, January 21, 2026, ISBN 9782268112572. [Publisher’s presentation](https://www.editionsdurocher.fr/product/132381/la-viande-n-a-pas-dit-son-dernier-mot/).

Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury, *Current Reading: Meat Has Not Spoken Its Last Word*, *Viandes & Produits Carnés*, February 2, 2026, VPC-2026-41-35. [Full publication](https://www.viandesetproduitscarnes.com/phocadownload/vpc_vol_41/Vol_4135_Dernier-mot-viande.pdf).

Bordeaux Sciences Agro, *Academic Profile and Research Work of Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury*. [View profile](https://www.agro-bordeaux.fr/staff/ellie-marie-pierre/).

FAO, *Contribution of terrestrial animal source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes*, 2023. [Report](https://www.fao.org/3/cc3912en/cc3912en.pdf).

Xie Y. et al., *Comparison of nutritional profile between plant-based meat analogues and real meat*, *Food Research International*, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114460. [Study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38763688/).

Del Bo’ C. et al., *Impact of Substituting Meats with Plant-Based Analogues on Health-Related Markers*, *Nutrients*, 2024. DOI: 10.3390/nu16152498. [Systematic review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39125378/).

World Health Organization, *Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat*, updated September 23, 2026. [WHO analysis](https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat).

FAO, *Pathways towards lower emissions*, 2023, and Poore & Nemecek, *Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers*, *Science*, 2018. [Environmental data](https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food).

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