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- 5.5 Ways to Change the Shape of Your Body - Fast!
- Expert Answers: Spin Classes and RPM Classes. How Many Calories Will I Burn? And Other Questions.
- How to Improve Core Stability Part 2 - The Spinal Neutral Test
- How to Improve Core Stability Part 4: Functional Exercises - The Plank and Its Wacky Variations
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- Over 50s Exercise - Seniors Training With Logan Franklin
- Take the Body Type Test- What Body Type are You?
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- Running: Working Out Your Race Pace With McMillan's Calculator
- Workout Music: Amelia’s Workout Playlist for Your Ipod
- When is the Best Time of Day to Eat?
- Why Aren’t I Losing Weight? Reasons Why You Are Exercising But Not Losing Weight
- The Fat Tax. Is it the Answer to Our Obesity Epidemic?
- Do You Have Adrenal Fatigue?
- Celebrity Diet Fads
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- Linda: Very interesting. I did the test and ended up as a Protein type, which i wouldn'
- Linda: Thanks for the great snack ideas. I love my protein shakes. There are so many ta
- Em: Hi Amelia, I'm very impressed with your blogs! So far I love this one the most.
- Hayley: Hi I reguly compete in sprint distance triathlons and was wondering if doing a
- Phaedra: Dear Amelia You should think twice before recommending kangaroo to eat. Do some
- John Hellen: My wife and I are both 76 years-of-age, we are both disabled by arthritis and ar
- Tony Rovere: A fat tax will not affect eating habits. Governments have failed to legislate m
- Pooja: I really need to lose weight, starting to feel my confidence level go down as we
- Michael K: My list: 1. Whole unprocessed foods. For your metabolic type - minus food sen
- anisha: i am still confused where are the affects on health based on our cholesteral
What Is the Best Meat to Eat? Meet Your Meat!
3 June 2009 10:04 pm
When you are rushing through the supermarket trying to decide what meat to cook for dinner, do you really know what you are looking for? I’m sure you know what tastes great, or what you are comfortable cooking, but what about the health benefits? It is possible your habitual choices could be damaging your health and waistline. I have examined our most popular (and some less popular) meats, and you might find the results surprising!
And the winner is…
Kangaroo meat!!! For the Aussie readers out there, we grew up watching ‘Skippy’, so now it can be hard to come to terms with eating him! Kangaroo meat has less calories and fat per serve than white fish yet as much iron as red meat and almost as much protein. Skippy really packs a punch in the nutrition stakes! Click here for a Bill Granger marinated kangaroo recipe. They say to treat it as you would beef, however I prefer stews, casseroles and marinades to plain steaks.
Second Place:
White fish. Also extremely low in fat and high in protein, white fish will provide you with some iron, minimal cholesterol and lots of healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
Third and fourth place:
Ostrich, closely followed by chicken breast. I’d like you to note on the chart the vast difference in nutritional value of chicken breasts without the skin versus a BBQ chicken. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that just because it’s chicken, that it’s good for you!
The Healthiest Meats (Best to Worst)
How I came up with the winners:
These statistics are collected mostly from the calorie king website, both the US and Australian versions. This has been a reliable source of nutritional information, especially for fat and calories. In collating the results, the best cuts of meat are ones that will be;
- Low in fat, especially saturated fat
- Low in calories
- Low in Cholesterol
- High in protein
- High in iron
Interesting findings:
- Ostrich is the US version of Kangaroo, an excellent meat choice. It’s usually in the frozen section of the supermarket and can be cooked exactly the same as beef. I also prefer this in a stew but I have eaten the steak and it’s especially nice marinated in soy sauce.
- Most elite sports people requiring endurance eat kangaroo or ostrich due to the high iron and protein component. Body builders especially like this meat because it is so lean yet so high in protein.
- Chicken breast with no skin contained the highest protein on the list with saturated fat remaining nice and low.
- Pork tenderloin, chicken breasts and bison are very similar nutrition wise. But be sure to eat the right part of the pig because other parts such as pork belly (many people’s favorite!) and roasted ham are extremely fatty.
- Notice that beef and lamb fall low on the list. Don’t despair, just eat sparingly. Especially lamb. The main problem with these two red meats is that they are high in fat including saturated fat. On the positive side they are also the richest source of iron (behind Kangaroo).
- Salmon came in a surprising 12th. This is mainly due to its high fat content. Interestingly it is quite low in saturated fat, it’s just the unsaturated fat that tips this fish over the edge. On the positive side, salmon contains a lot more essential omega 3 fatty acids compared to other fish. To compare it to other fish as well as mercury levels, click on this chart. Sword fish and shark are a great alternative to salmon, almost as high in omega-3s yet really low in fat.
- You have been warned about those greasy BBQ chickens! Check out their stats, 300 calories, 14grams of fat. Steer clear if you value your health!
The best meats for you:
If weight loss is your goal: The first six on the list. Go for kangaroo, white fish, ostrich, chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or bison (in that order).
If increasing muscle size but staying lean is your goal: Chicken breast, ostrich, white fish, pork tenderloin, or beef.
If you have high cholesterol: White fish, ostrich, kangaroo, or ham.
If you need more iron (intense exercisers, mums to be, tired, pale, and elderly): Kangaroo, beef, or lamb. Click here to find out your daily iron intake recommendation as well as other foods rich in iron.
I suggest finding some recipes and experimenting with your three healthiest meats until you find a dish that’s easy to prepare and tastes good. Remember a good rule of thumb is to eat red meat no more than twice per week. UK Newspaper, The Independent has written a really interesting article on red meat and its effects on your health. Hopefully this will open your eyes the next time you reach the meat section of the supermarket!
Got any recipes you love? Maybe you’ve already converted to the healthier meats. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Tagged As: beef, chicken, cholesterol, diet, lamb, Meat, nutrition, pork, Weight gain, Weight loss
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[...] are two types of iron. Heme iron is derived from animal sources such as red meat, where as non heme iron comes from plant sources such as chickpeas. Heme iron is more easily [...]
Hi, interesting article on meat. A question; there has been a big change in the way we look at fat and these days a lot of diets claim that fat is the most important thing we can eat. If we wan’t lo loose weight that is. Low Carb High Fat etc. Whats your take on that?
/Joe, ZineTeam:Fitness
Hi Joe,
I am not an advocate for low carb high fat diets. They are unsustainable, promote unbalanced eating and in my experience only work in the very short term.
The fact is any diet that lowers your overall daily calorie intake will work. Low carb/high fat diets have that added boost of loss of water in the early stages as well as lower calories.
Many people become irritable and lethargic on these diets, and they certainly find it harder to exercise intensely.
I recommend cutting carbs out at night, having only vegetables and protein, but I always recommend carbs for breakfast and low GI carbs for lunch.
Finally it does depend on your genetic makeup. People are either protein, carb, or mixed types. Protein types fare better on low carb, high fat diets. Follow this link to find out yours: http://www.ameliaburton.com.au/2008/04/eat-right-for-your-body-type-metabolic.html
Hope that answers your question.
Amelia
[...] What Are the Best Meats to Eat? Meet Your Meats! (ameliaburton.com.au) [...]
[...] meat- wild, fresh, unprocessed, organic, hormone free [...]
[...] What Are the Best Meats to Eat? Meet Your Meats! (ameliaburton.com.au) [...]
[...] meat- wild, fresh, unprocessed, organic, hormone free [...]
[...] Article on what meat is best to eat What Is the Best Meat to Eat? Meet Your Meat! 3 June 2009 10:04 pm When you are rushing through the supermarket trying to decide what meat to [...]
Hi Amelia, I noticed this article fails to mention ground turkey or turkey breast. Where do you think these items fall on the list for weight loss or are they just an over-hyped substitute for some of the other meats listed? Thanks
Hi Ryan,
Turkey meat is also considered a healthy meat. I always advise clients to buy organic as there is a lot of turkey products out there containing unnecessary hormones and chemicals, just like chicken.
To put it in perspective, per 100g Turkey contains:
100 calories
1.66g fat
17.07g protein
1.44mg iron
70-80mg Cholesterol
Hope that clarifies things.
Amelia
Hi Amelia,
Love your website (found the ski preparation tips really helpful for when I went to Thredders this year).
I have so say, I was lucky enough to be coaxed onto Kangaroo when I was finishing school and have eaten it religiously since. I occasionally will cook an expensive beef Angus or lamb steak, but the saturated fat content is always really noticeable. Kangaroo is just so lean, light and – something you didn’t mention (I don’t think) – extraordinarily tender if cooked properly. I like my meat fairly rare and kangaroo accommodates this perfectly. I eat it every week and can’t imagine living without it. So glad to be Aussie! Though I hear they’re now importing Kanga meat all around the world.
Also, to anyone yet to try kangaroo meat, I highly suggest starting off eating the fillet versions, rather than the steak versions. They are slightly more pricey, but are more representative of the uber-lean, delicious nature of this meat.
Anyway, love the blog, and thanks for posting this, Amelia. Keep it up!
Hi Clance,
Wow thanks for those suggestions, taken from a real Kanga Connoisseur. I usually get the steaks so will definitely try the fillets next time. And your tip about how tender they can be is also very poignant. Many people assume a lean meat will be tough. Not good ol’ skippy though!
I am so pleased you like my site but very jealous you got to go skiing this year – I missed out.
Happy reading and happy eating!
Amelia
try to ship some of that kangaroo meat to olivet middle schools
Although i do know that it is concidered taboo to eat horse meat in the US, it is used regularly in European and Asian cuisine.
Horse meat can be placed in the top 5 of your list if you concider it’s nutritional values (per 100g/3.5oz.):
Calories: 133
Protein: 21g
Fat: 5g
Iron: 3.8mg
Sodium: 53mg
Cholesterol: 52 mg
(Got them off wikipedia)
Are you sure about your recommendation of ham for a person who has high cholesterol? I thought earlier in your article you said to avoid ham because it was much fattier than pork loin and that the latter was the preferred choice when it comes to pork!
BEEF IS THE BEST
Dear Amelia
You should think twice before recommending kangaroo to eat. Do some research – game meat is loaded with parasites and diseases not found in livestock. While it may be low fat it also can contain toxoplasmosis, salmonella, ecoli etc. Check out http://www.nokangaroomeat.org
Besides that, there is the aspect of the extreme cruelty of how they kill the kangaroo babies – they are decapitated with a knife, stomped to death with someone’s foot or battered to death against the bull-bars of a ute. Promoting kangaroo meat is endorsing this extreme and shameful cruelty that is approved in the ‘Humane Code of Conduct for Shooting of Kangaroos’.
Thanks,
Phaedra