Ways to eat beef safely….

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Today's post: Monday, 3-26-2007

Ways to eat beef safely….

Beef & red meat in general have a bad reputation with health oriented people & many prevention oriented health professionals.

But a lot of people enjoy eating it, possibly including you.

And, recent studies show that eating a moderately high protein diet & NOT eating sugar, refined grain foods & other high glycemic foods can help in losing excess fat successfully -- & people who lose weight that way improve their blood markers for health.

It’s still not common knowledge. But there are safe ways to eat beef.

It can make you sick if you eat it without using those strategies; but it can actually be good for you if you use the guidelines for eating beef safely.

Here are the 4 ways to eat beef safely:

1. Eat the right kind.
2. Eat it with the right foods.
3. Prepare & cook it in safe ways.
4. Eat other protein foods each week & avoid eating beef too often.

1. Eat the right kind.

In many ways this is the most important one.

For most of the beef now being sold in the U.S. it may not be safe to eat beef. And, it is definitely not safe to eat it too often.

The good news is that each of the health issues in eating beef is connected to how the cattle it’s from are fed & farmed.

Cattle fed grain in feedlots & which get no exercise, have beef with excessive omega 6 oils; have very little if any omega 3 oils or a one called CLA that provides several health benefits. The information I recently read in the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, suggests that grain feed beef also has lower levels of magnesium & other nutrients. And, the diet high in grains & virtually no exercise produces beef that’s quite high in saturated fat & fat overall.

This results in beef that has enough omega 6 oils & saturated fat to cause health problems if you eat it all often

In addition, cattle raised this way tend to get sick; & the mobs of cattle & their massively concentrated waste in the feed lots attracts hordes of flies.

So, the cattle need antibiotics & pesticides & their fats tend to be high in these compounds.

That problem is significant since I once read of studies showing that pesticides contained in the animal fats some people eat boost their blood & body levels of pesticides & herbicides far MORE than what they might get from eating produce that is not organic.

The good news is that beef from cattle raised ONLY on grass in well managed but smaller farms are almost the exact opposite.

It’s less readily available & costs more. And, you have to cook it a bit differently; but it is actually likely to be good for you. And, there are sources for it for people who want it.:

One source I’ve found is http://www.grasslandbeef.com/

And, looking up "Grass fed beef" on Yahoo found many more.

The key is that the cattle be fed no grain even just before they are slaughtered.

Beef from cattle feed on only grass before that time & then fed grain just before they are slaughtered, is still far superior to beef from cattle raised only on grain in feedlots.

But it will have more omega 6 oils & saturated fat. And, if the feeding area is large or the cattle are there long, it may have some of the problems of conventional beef.

Here are the other 3 ways to eat beef safely.:

2. Eat it with the right foods.

Eating beef with lots of onions or flavored with garlic tends to prevent any excess saturated fat from being problematic according to some information I once received because it acts like a kind of antifreeze keeping the fat in your blood free flowing.

And, eating ample onions & garlic has many other documented health benefits. Lastly, it makes the beef taste good; & it’s more important to the flavor of cooked grass fed beef since grass fed beef, like game, is usually more strongly flavored than grain fed beef.

Secondly, it’s a good idea to eat beef with plentiful amounts of green or non-starchy vegetables.

Those provide fiber, soluble fiber, & sterols that minimize the boosting of bad LDL cholesterol by the remaining saturated fat; they help fill you up so it’s easier to enjoy a smaller or moderate serving of beef & helps keep you from eating so much you get fat; & the vegetables have complementary nutrients & antioxidants the prevent your LDL & HDL cholesterol from becoming oxidized.

In all these ways, eating beef with plentiful amounts of green or non-starchy vegetables support your good health & protect your heart. Plus many of these vegetables have anticancer effects, particularly the cruciferous vegetables.

In fact, if you insist on eating grain fed beef; but you go with leaner cuts & eat the beef with beef with plentiful amounts of green or non-starchy vegetables -- & plentiful onions & garlic, you’re much more likely to stay healthy than you would otherwise.

3. Prepare & cook it in safe ways.

Beef from cattle only fed grass & from well managed farms is a LOT safer to eat rare or medium rare than beef from grain fed cattle.

But it’s safest to go with well-done. Overdone beef though can have the same problems as beef cooked at too high a temperature.

Cooking beef (& many other foods) at high temperatures tends to create compounds that have been shown to cause cancer.

So, cutting or shredding the beef into bite sized chunks or smaller makes is faster to cook & easier to cook at lower temperatures & still get it cooked.

(That also makes it safer to eat & can help compensate for the slight tougher texture of grass fed beef.)

As long as you cook it the right amount of time & go with cooking it longer at lower temperatures, you can roast or pan fry beef; & I understand a method called braising can work. (I’m not an experienced cook.) But the companies that sell grass fed beef can advise you further.

Using a marinade with garlic & other ingredients before the beef is cooked can also help, from what I’ve read, in making the beef taste good & make it more tender once done.

4. Eat other protein foods each week & avoid eating beef too often.

The healthiest people tend to eat fish, seafood, beans, eggs, nonfat or lowfat dairy; & nuts for most of their protein needs.

So, if you eat these foods regularly each week, or eat the ones you aren’t allergic too, and you eat some beef as variety rather than for four or more times a week, you are much more likely to be healthy.

And, that’s even true for grain feed beef.

And, eating beans & lentils for protein is inexpensive enough it can help you to afford grass fed beef when you do eat beef.

Eating wild caught fish like salmon & sardines give you more omega 3 oils in more directly usable form than you get from even grass fed beef.

Nuts & eggs are extremely nutritious & enhance your health.

So if you eat those each week as well as beef, the beef you eat adds to the other nutrition you are getting even when you eat less beef.

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So, there are several ways to eat beef safely; & even eating grain fed beef can be much safer if you use the other strategies here.