The Meat You Eat – What's Good for You? (2024)

FAQs

The Meat You Eat – What's Good for You? ›

A healthy balanced diet can include protein from meat, as well as from fish and eggs or non-animal sources such as beans and pulses. Meats such as chicken, pork, lamb and beef are all rich in protein. Red meat provides us with iron, zinc and B vitamins. Meat is one of the main sources of vitamin B12 in the diet.

The leanest and healthiest meats to eat include poultry, pork, fish, and seafood. Eating a balanced diet is one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle, which means choosing various foods from different food groups, like proteins.

Recommendations For Eating Meat

In addition to portion size, Manaker recommends limiting ultra-processed products and looking for lean cuts of meat. This includes white meat chicken for poultry, flank steak for red meat, and pork sirloin or tenderloin. And what you eat with your meat is just as important.

You have probably heard it many times already: don't eat too much red meat or processed foods. But research shows processed red meats, like bacon, hot dogs, and salami are the biggest problem.

Pork, for example, is the most consumed meat globally, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, making up 36% of the world's meat intake. The popularity of pork is closely followed by poultry, which is a staple in many countries due to its versatility and affordability.

NUTRIENT DENSE RED MEAT

So what qualifies it as a superfood? Compared to many other meats, ostrich is a better source of vitamins and minerals. Zinc: A 100-gram serving of cooked ostrich meat provides around 4 milligrams of zinc, over 30% of the recommended daily value.

Chicken is a healthy food (as long as it's poached, baked or grilled), but that doesn't mean you should eat it every single day. As both dietitians have explained, eating a wide variety of foods is the best way to give your body the nutrients it needs.

Human health. Shrimp is a good source of protein, on par with, say, a rib-eye steak. It's high in calcium and vitamin B12. It's low in saturated fat, which makes it heart-healthy.

In Leviticus 11, the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron and sets out which animals can be eaten and which cannot: “You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.

What is the healthiest meat to eat for breakfast? ›

There's more than one way to add healthy meat to your breakfast rotation. When in doubt, aim for whole meats like ground turkey, ground pork, ground beef, chicken or salmon over processed meats like bacon and sausage. This will help to limit your consumption of added salt, sugar, and preservatives.

One of our Cancer Prevention Recommendations is to eat no more than moderate amounts of red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb, and eat little, if any, processed meat. There is strong evidence that consumption of either red or processed meat are both causes of colorectal cancer.

Of course, just like with red meat, you want to stay away from highly processed poultry. Eating skinless, white meat is the healthiest way to go. Many professionals have classified white meat from chicken as the leanest and cleanest meat to eat.

1. Poultry. Raw and undercooked poultry such as chicken, duck and turkey has a high risk of causing food poisoning.

Along with cold cuts, other processed meats include bacon, salami, bologna, hot dogs and sausages. Fresh chicken, turkey, beef, pork and fish that have not been modified are considered unprocessed meats.

It's true that whether you're getting it fresh from the farm or (not-so) fresh out of a can or package: Not all meat is created equal. If you're looking for the healthiest lunch meat option, choose the leanest cuts of deli meat possible, such as turkey, chicken breast, lean ham or roast beef.