As our PN Styles data shows, people are eating a lot more beef and eggs now than they were back in 1996. Our evolving nutrition science knowledge likely has a lot to do with that.
Nutrition is a fairly young science compared to medicine, only 230 years old. It continues to evolve as we study the effects of food on health and gain a better understanding of the science Beef and eggs, in the 1990s, were viewed as unhealthy food—too high in saturated fat and cholesterol. After all, this was during the low-fat, no-fat craze. However, now we have learned that not all saturated fat is the same; the saturated fat in beef is the type that does not raise blood cholesterol. We also learned that the cholesterol in food does not raise blood cholesterol as much as saturated and trans fat. As dietitians, we were able to improve our messages about eating beef and eggs. Meanwhile, cattle and chicken farmers improved breeding techniques and feed mixes to produce leaner cows and eggs with less cholesterol. There are 29 lean cuts of beef and less cholesterol in eggs.
With all of this new science, communicators were armed with empowering messages to enjoy more beef and eggs.