This myth is everywhere—and it’s time to challenge it with facts, not fear.

For decades, mainstream nutrition advice has pushed the idea that plant-based = healthier, and that animal foods = harmful. And while there’s nothing wrong with eating more plants, the claim that meat is inherently bad for fertility just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

In fact, in the fertility space, advice to cut down on meat and go mostly plant-based is still widely circulated — even though it’s often based on misinterpreted or cherry-picked data.

Many of the studies cited to support plant-based fertility claims contain anti-meat bias in their design or presentation:

• One well-known study suggested that plant proteins were superior for ovulation—but when you dig into the data, the only plant protein linked to improved ovulatory function was legumes. “Meat alternatives” (like fake meat) actually performed worse than animal protein, including processed meat!
  
  
• Another study found that both fish and red meat were associated with higher live birth rates after IVF — but only the benefit of fish was highlighted in the abstract and conclusion. Red meat was mentioned once, in the full results section, and left out of the summary entirely.
  
  
• In a large epidemiological study, women who ate the most meat had the lowest rates of ovulatory infertility, even though they also smoked more, drank more, and exercised less than others in the study. That protective effect was briefly noted in the results — then ignored in the discussion.

Some studies rank dietary patterns as “healthy” or “unhealthy” using point systems — awarding points for more vegetables and deducting for things like smoking … and meat intake. That means even neutral or beneficial effects of meat get buried in aggregate data.

Here’s what we know: animal foods — especially well-sourced, minimally processed meats — contain key fertility nutrients that are hard to match elsewhere in the diet:

• Complete protein (rich in essential amino acids like L-carnitine and methionine)
• Iron (heme) – easier to absorb than plant-based iron
• Zinc – supports egg development and sperm health
• B12 – essential for ovulation, implantation, and pregnancy maintenance
• Retinol (preformed vitamin A) – only found in animal foods
• Choline, CoQ10, creatine, carnitine – all shown to support egg and sperm health, mitochondrial function, and embryo development

And — spoiler alert — most of these nutrients are found in highest concentrations in red meat. Don’t forget, though, that the form of meat matters. Prioritize grass-fed red meat, organic pasture-raised poultry, wild-caught fish, and nose-to-tail cuts like liver or bone broth.