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Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbam here the meat sweats is more than just

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Speaker 1: an unexpectedly gross turn of phrase. It's become something of

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Speaker 1: a punchline and everything from a Progressive insurance commercial in

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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen to that Thanksgiving episode of the sitcom Friends

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Speaker 1: from two thousand and one in which Joey played by

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Speaker 1: Matt LeBlanc, consumes an entire turkey, then sits back and groans,

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Speaker 1: here come the meat sweats. And a while back, fast

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Speaker 1: food brand Arby's, which emphasizes the carnivora appeal of its menu,

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Speaker 1: gave away beef themed sweatpants and hoodies as a promotion.

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Speaker 1: You know, meat sweats. Miriam Webster even added this phrase

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Speaker 1: to their dictionary in twenty twenty three. It's a punchline

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Speaker 1: for a reason other than again that it's weirdly gross.

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Speaker 1: People who have consumed large amounts of animal protein have

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Speaker 1: occasionally reported that they've experienced a sensation of feeling flushed

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Speaker 1: and fatigued, accompanied by perspiration. Although there isn't an extensive

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Speaker 1: body of scientific literature on the meat sweats, it does

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Speaker 1: seem to be a real phenomenon for the article of

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Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuffworks. Spoke by email

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Speaker 1: Chris Lockwood, PhD, a Draper, Utah based consultant in food,

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Speaker 1: fitness and dietary supplement industries who holds his doctorate in

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Speaker 1: exercise physiology from the University of Oklahoma. He explained that

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Speaker 1: the thermal effect of feeding, or TEF for short, is

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Speaker 1: actually a good thing rather than a sign of distress

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Speaker 1: a quote. It means that your body is burning more

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Speaker 1: calories and fat than it typically does when processing a meal.

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Speaker 1: While you can get a thermal effect from eating other

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Speaker 1: foods besides meat, a huge steak will make you sweat

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Speaker 1: more than a loaded potato because protein is more difficult

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Speaker 1: to break down than carbohydrates are fat and has a

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Speaker 1: higher thermic effect when your body has to dieget and

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Speaker 1: use it. Meaning some people will experience an increase in

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Speaker 1: their core temperature when they eat a lot of meat,

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Speaker 1: and as a result might start to sweat as a

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Speaker 1: way for their body to help them cool off. But

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Speaker 1: the thermic effective protein only explains part of the total TEF.

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Speaker 1: According to Lockwood, protein also stimulates the release of hormones

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Speaker 1: that affect your thyroid and are involved in regulating your metabolism.

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Speaker 1: But okay, why would a meat eater sweat more than

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Speaker 1: someone who eats a plateful of tofu with the same

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Speaker 1: amount of protein. A one plausible explanation, according to Lockwood,

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Speaker 1: is that the simple act of chewing also affects the metabolism.

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Speaker 1: He says that researchers demonstrated this by having some experimental

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Speaker 1: subjects eat a solid meal while others consume the same

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Speaker 1: amount of calories and identical nutrients as a liquid pure

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Speaker 1: For those who had to chew, the tef more than doubled.

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Speaker 1: If you want to avoid meat sweats, it's fairly easy

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Speaker 1: eat a bit less, especially if you've had meat sweats

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Speaker 1: happen before and know about the point at which it

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Speaker 1: starts for you. It doesn't mean you need to go

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Speaker 1: hungry and just focus on foods other than proteins, vegetables

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Speaker 1: or carbs, preferably whole grains, but you know treats are nice.

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Speaker 1: Remember that, based on general healthy dietary guidelines, a serving

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Speaker 1: of meat is around three to four ounces, or a

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Speaker 1: piece about the size of your palm. Of course, everyone's

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Speaker 1: body is different and nutrition is complicated. If you're here

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Speaker 1: because you're concerned about your meat sweats, consult a medical

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Speaker 1: professional who is not us. Today's episode is based on

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Speaker 1: the article our meat Sweats A Real Thing on HowStuffWorks

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Speaker 1: dot com, written by Patrick Jake Hyder. Brain Stuff is

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Speaker 1: production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot

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Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.