The truth is a bit more complicated. True, our bodies do not create Neuy 5, but they also can’t create vitamin D without help from the sun. Too much sun can cause cancer, too. There is a fine line between that which can kill you and that which makes you stronger. Studies on the role of Neuy 5 and inflammation are inconclusive at best – the best they’ve been able to do is make rats develop liver cancer, but that’s not the type of cancer that red meat is supposed to cause in humans.
Additionally, as Chris Kresser pointed out, the Masai people ate a diet consisting mostly of red meat, blood, and milk, and yet inflammation and its modern day associated diseases did not plague them. The point is that bodies are complicated and many cofounders go into making something healthy or unhealthy – and even that varies amongst individuals.
Thus do I say, eat your burger (with a glass of wine, of course, because you DO want to inhibit iron absorption). And vegans, stick a bloody, meaty cork in it.
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/the-secrets-out-the-reason-red-meat-is-so-bad-for-our-health/
http://chriskresser.com/does-red-meat-cause-inflammation/