diet myth #2: red meat is bad for you

Charcoal Cow Butchery Diagram

There is a big push for us to eat less meat, especially red meat.  There are some reasons why this is the recommendation, but not all red meat deserves a bad rap!

The Bad News: Red meat, in general, has more saturated fat than other more lean meats. In fact, red meat is the 2nd biggest contributor to saturated fat in the American diet (behind cheese!).  Saturated fat leads to many health problems, including cardiovascular disease. There have also been studies that correlate people who eat more red meat in their diet to higher risks of both disease and cancer (although this has not been scientifically proven, yet). 

nutrient rich beef

The Good News: Red meat has a ton of nutritional benefits.  For starters, it's a complete protein (which means it contains all of the essential amino acids your body needs).  Additionally, because they are from an animal source, many of the vitamins and minerals obtained by eating red meat are absorbed more easily than their vegetable counterparts. 

Aaaand- not all red meat is high in saturated fat!  The key is to pay attention to the cuts of meat that you choose and the method of cooking that you choose to use!  It's also important that you realize that a portion of meat is 3 ounces which is the size of a deck of cards (in depth and width- about 2in x 3in x 0.5in).  If you want to eat more than that- you must multiply all the nutritional information- including the fat.  (Keep in mind most portions of meat served are close to 10-12 ounces!)

Here's a guide to help you choose the right meats:

Cuts of meat come from different parts of the cow.  That's an important point because different parts of a cow are worked in various ways.  Some parts are naturally tender (the Sirloin) and some parts are tender because of marbled fat (the Ribs).  The Round and Chuck generally are tougher pieces of meat because these muscles are used for the cow's locomotion (so they are stronger), so they may need to be cooked using different methods than the meat received from the Loin!

The more lean cuts include:

Those from the round (butt) including (eye round, top round, round tip, bottom round), the sirloin, and the flank. These may be cut as roasts or steaks.

This may be confusing if you are not used to the general cuts of meat.  These are some common cuts served at restaurants and their relative nutritional value.  I have the information listed for a serving size = 85g (3 ounces).  Also, all information is for cuts of steak with all visible fat trimmed- so these are probably underestimating the fat and calories in a steak you will be served at a restaurant.  But, this is a good reference for a comparison!

Cut of meat	Calories	Fat	Saturated fat	Protein
Rib eye	222	15	6	21
New York Strip	164	7	3	25
Beef tenderloin/ filet mignon	185	9	4	23
T-bone	210	14	5	21
Flank steak	162	6	3	24
Top sirloin steak	180	8	3	25

As you can see, some choices are better for you than others.  Keep in mind that there is nothing good about saturated fat.  It's not like the unsaturated fats that have a ton of health benefits.  The recommendations for saturated fat are to have as little as possible- they should make up less than 10% of your daily caloric intake.  Saturated fats also come in foods with increased cholesterol, which also leads to a lot of health problems!!

 

Tips:

1)  Choose your meats well.  Choose lean meats and cook them without using added fat.  They generally do not need additional fat to cook because there is fat within the meat will help them to cook just fine.  (if you want to get ground beef- make sure that it's at least 95% lean!)

*if you are at a restaurant- ask for your steak to be cooked without the added butter!!

2) Remember to use portion control- 3 ounces is smaller than you think!  A good reference when out to dinner is to make sure the meat portion is no larger than the palm of your hand (in thickness and width- the palm of your hand is 5-6 ounces).

3) Eat red meat only about once a week!