For a counter-point, I eat an extremely meat heavy diet and have a superb CRP number (.23).
It's more likely about avoiding low quality meats, which unfortunately is what 95% of the meat produced in the US is.
It's more likely about avoiding low quality meats, which unfortunately is what 95% of the meat produced in the US is.
Out of curiousity, do you eat a lot of vegetables?
-45% high quality meat (grassfed, pastured, cage-free depending on species)
-10% low quality meat (traditional supermarket stuff)
-30% green leafy vegetables (read: very low non-dietary-fiber carbs)
-10% fruit or carby veggies (e.g. tubers)
-5% grains (never gluten containing)
So I definitely have other confounding factors that might influence my CRP number: low carbs, very low grains. That said, I arrived at my current diet via 3.5 years of A/B testing what works for me, optimizing for specifically what causes my digestion the least inflammation. I'm very happy with the results.
But I think "just" might be understating it. Corn-fed cattle do not have the proper stomach ph to naturally protect against bacteria overgrowth in their stomachs (whereas if they consumed solely grass, this is naturally not a problem). As a workaround to the bacteria problem they are force fed antibiotics for their entire lives. Additionally: corn fed cattle yield 30-50% more meat because they are insanely obese. Beef producers have a perverse incentive to keep these animals in confined conditions (read: knee deep in their own shit) so that they don't get too much exercise. When you eat conventionally raised cattle, you're consuming the meat of a crippling infirm animal that lived its life in appalling conditions. It's a bad scene.