Vol. 2, No. 9
Sept 14, 2005
Beef:
the New White Meat?
Did your
Labor Day celebrations include a few juicy steaks cooked
on the grill? Anything less seems almost un-American.
Yet there are many health-conscious people who forgo
beef for leaner poultry or fish. Red meat's link to
heart disease, cancer and diabetes is enough to justify
the chickening out, but research shows that some of
these risks may stem more from processing and cooking
methods than the meat itself.
Grilling,
broiling or frying – especially charring – of the meat
creates cancer-causing chemicals, specifically HCAs or
heterocyclic amines. That's a bad thing.
The good
news: a recent Consumer Reports shows that "beef's
effects on LDL cholesterol are no worse than chicken's
if the red meat is sufficiently lean." And some cuts
were lower in saturated fat than expected. For example,
a 3-ounce serving of roast beef or fat-trimmed top
sirloin has less than 2 grams of saturated fat. Duck
with skin is quadruple that amount and even dark-meat
chicken with skin has roughly double that amount.
For a
listing of specific fat and calories of meat and
poultry, read the next article...
Calories and Fat in Meat and Poultry
Before you
reach for that fried chicken leg instead of serving of
sirloin, believing it's better for you, check this out
first:(all calculations based on a 3-oz. cooked serving)
-
Top
sirloin: 5.0 g fat, 151 calories</LI< ul>
-
Extra
lean ham: 4.7 g fat, 123 calories
-
Center
loin pork chops: 6.9 g fat, 172
-
Lamb
chops: 6.6 g fat, 160 calories
-
Eye of
round: 4.0 g fat, 144 calories
Versus
chicken, turkey and duck...
-
White
meat chicken, no skin: 3 g fat, 140 calories
-
White
meat turkey, no skin: 2.7 g fat, 133 calories
-
Dark
meat chicken, no skin: 8.3 g fat, 174 calories
-
Dark
meat turkey, no skin, 6.1 g fat, 159 calories
-
Duck, no
skin: 9.5 g fat, 171 calories
-
Duck.,
with skin: 24.1 g fat, 286 calories
Try This
At a
fitness workshop, the instructor pulled an audience
member on the stage for a demonstration. He had her
stand behind a lightweight chair and gave her the
instruction: "Try to lift that chair." She easily lifted
the chair. "No, that's not what I said," the instructor
told her, "I said try and lift the chair." Again she
picked up the chair. "I said try, not do," he told the
bewildered volunteer. He turned to us, "Do you see the
difference? You either do or you don't. Trying doesn't
do anything."
Do you
exercise or do you try to fit it in? Do you make healthy
food choices or do you try? The word "try" has a
built-in excuse. Check yourself for how often you use
the word. Catch yourself the next time a friend asks you
to meet him for a run and you answer, "I'll try, but I'm
not sure I can make it." When the actual answer is, "I
don't want to but I don't want a lecture from you."
Here's an option: just say "yes." Then do it.
We offer this article on a
nonexclusive basis. You may reprint or repost this
material as long as Linda Melone's name and contact
information is included.
Thanks! LM
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