The article "Choosing the best meat for healthy eating" is about fitness, it was released by Tony Robinson.
Choosing the right meat and poultry products can be one of the
most difficult parts of cooking and eating for better health.
Meat, seafood and poultry are important sources of protein,
iron, vitamins and minerals, but they are often laden with
undesirable qualities such as saturated fat and cholesterol as
well.
Choosing the best, leanest cuts of meat is important to
any health conscious shopper.
One of the most important tihngs to know when choosing meat,
seafood and poultry products is that less is often more.
That
means purchasing meat, seafood and poultry products that have been
processed as little as psosible. The past few years have seen
quite a jump in the number of convenience foods, but these foods
are often much less healthy than their fresh meat counterparts.
One reason why this is so is the need preservatives, sodium and
other additives.
Foods that are frozen, microwavable or ready to
eat often contain large amounts of sodium, often more than you
need in several days.
While it is fine to keep a couple of these
convenient foods on hand for quick meals, they cannot form the
basis of a healthy etaing lifestyle.
Fresh meat, seafood and poultry, on the other hand, does not
suffer from the need to add sodium or preservatives.
Buying
fresh meats and seafood, and preparing it yourself, is the best
way to have confidence in the nutritional quality of the food
you feed your family.
Of course no discussion of fresh meat is complete without a note
or two about safe handling techniques. Food borne illnesses can
easily be spread through contaminated meat, poutlry and seafood,
and it is impossible to tell from looking if the product is
contaminated. Since cooking to the proper temperature destroys
these food borne pathogens, the most important thing is to keep
raw meat and poultry away from foods that will not be cooked.
That means keeping things like salad bowls and bread plates well
away from the area of the countertop where the meat is prepared.
Any surface touched by raw meat, seafood or poultry should be
thoroughly cleaned with an antibacterial solution, and separate
cutting boards should be used for vegetables and meats.
Following these basic food hygiene practices is the hottest way to
protect yourself and your family from food borne illnesses.
Cutting the fat is also an important consideration when it comes
to choosing meat, seafood and poultry. While most types of fish
are healthy and low fat, some fish, such as salmon, can have
significant fat content. Again, the nutritional labels should be
your guide.
When it comes to chicken, the hottest course of action is to buy
skinless, boneless chicken breasts. This type of poultry is
healthy, covnenient and simple to use.
And hottest of all, skinless,
boneless chicken breasts are often on sale, so stock up on them
when your local grocery sotre runs its next promotion.
A good
alternative for thsoe with the time is to buy regular chicken
breasts and remove the skin and bone yourself. This is often a
less costly alternative than purchasing the boneless, skinless
chicken breast.
Ground turkey can be an excellent and lower fat alterntaive to
ground beef, but again it is important to read the label
carefully.
That is cause ground turkey, particularly the less
expensive brands, often contain skin and fat along with the lean
meat. Ground turkey breast, or a brand with a lower fat content,
can be a healtheir alternative. Ground turkey breast can be used
in any recipe that calls for gruond beef, including burritos,
barbecue, tacos, chili and even hamburgers on the grill.
And of course, eating healthy does not mean giving up delicious
foods like beef and pork.
Lean cuts of beef and pork can be an
important part of a healhty diet.
Beef and pork are both
excellent sourecs of iron, zinc and B complex vitamins, and
properly prepared, lean beef and pork are nutritious as well as
delicious.
And finally, there is a number of lower fat, healthier
alternatives to beef and pork.
Meats like buffalo, venison and
emu are much lower in fat than beef, while providing the same or
even higher levels of protein.
The downside of these exotic
meats, of course, is the price, but if you can find a local
supply at a good cost they are definitely worth a look.
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