Eating Beef The Healthy Way

If you are watching your weight or watching your cholesterol, you may have been told that you have to cut back on eating beef. There is some wisdom in this, but there are safer ways that you can eat beef so that you can still have your favorites once in a while, but you are also still protecting your heart and staying on track with a good diet plan. The key is to choose the right types of beef, and then to only have it once in a while. Beef is full of important proteins, and sometimes, there is nothing like a good steak for a special occasion at home or out with friends or family.

Perhaps you have been eating beef the wrong way. Beef comes in many forms, with the most common being hamburger, steak, and roast. These alone are not bad foods, but eating too much of them or having the wrong cuts can be the problem for your health. Beef does have some saturated fats, which are not good for heart health and will put pounds on your body if you are not careful. Eating beef safety is about keeping these things in mind while you shop and also when choosing where you are going to shop.

Choosing the right place to get your beef is a great step in learning about eating beef the right way. You want to be in control of how much fat you are getting. Buying hamburger with low fat is easy enough, and you can get that in almost any store. However, for the rest of your beef purchases, you want to find a good butcher that can help you get exactly what you want. Some stores have a meat counter, so instead of using the pre-packaged cuts, go to the counter and ask them to cut what you want just how you want. They will be happy to oblige.

Ask to have all or most of the fat trimmed from the side of the cut you are selecting. Eating beef with little to no fat may mean finding new ways to prepare it, as it can be a bit dry, but there are things you can do to keep a low fat steak juicy. All beef has some marbling, which means the fat is throughout the meat, but that is a small amount. The fat you should worry about is the fat around the perimeter. If you have that trimmed down to almost nothing, you can enjoy eating beef again once in a while.

Some cuts are simply leaner than other cuts of beef. You can inquire with a butcher about what cuts and parts of the cow are naturally the leanest and you can then learn to use those in your recipes. You can even have those ground to hamburger if you want to be sure you are eating beef burger with low fat. It may cost you more, but it will be worth it, and may taste better than typical hamburger anyway. If you control the fat on your meat, eating beef will once again be okay on occasion. Just remember to keep your menu balanced so that beef is not your sole source of protein.