Best Meat? (Protein)

Spring time is here, and with Memorial day (and James' birthday) right around the corner, there is only one thing that comes to mind - good eats on the grill! But before you go drooling on the keyboard thinking of delicious meats and whatnot, lets take a step back and go over some of what you should, and should not be grilling on these warm spring and summer nights.

Let's start with my personal favorite, steak. Personally, I think red meat has been given a bad rap, due in part to the media's focus on the negatives like it's high fat content and high calories, and that it "causes cancer" (which is totally bogus). That being said, you do have to pay attention to your nutrition labels when it comes to purchasing and cooking red meat. Go for leaner cuts such as eye of round, top round, or London broil. Limit the fattier (and, yes, more flavorful) cuts, like porterhouse, for special occasions.

When you choose the healthier cut of beef, like eye of round, you are getting all the great nutrients like protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B without excess fat and calories.

Ok, so we have covered beef, lets move on to chicken. I would guess the majority of you already know this, but stick to boneless, skinless chicken breast. While leaving the bone in and the skin on allows fat and marrow to cook into the chicken, making it juicy and tender, it also adds a significant amount of fat and calories. In fact, chicken with the skin left on can have a caloric content higher than a lean cut of beef! If prepared correctly, you can still enjoy a juicy, delicious, and healthy piece of meat by sticking with the boneless, skinless breast.

And lastly, lets talk about everyone's go-to grill items- brats and hot dogs. Yes, these little packages of ground up meat can certainly be delicious, but they are also the items you should be most concerned about. I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one- neither of these food items are at all healthy for you, and should definitely not be consumed regularly. But for those rare occasions that you do decide to go with brats and hot dogs, I would strongly recommend going for all natural types, like Hebrew National hot dogs. And while you're looking over the nutrition info, which I know you all do, make sure you stay away from preservatives- especially sodium nitrate! If you see sodium nitrate on the package I want you to throw the food as far as you can and run in the opposite direction. Sodium nitrate- a very common food preservative- is also used in fertilizers, pyrotechnics, and rocket fuel! Yes, you read correctly ROCKET FUEL! Do you want to eat some yummy rocket fuel? So while brands like Hebrew National may be expensive, your health is not something to skimp on (and they taste better too).

So there you have it, a griller's guide to health and happiness. I hope you all got a little info out of this, and realize that grilling can be both tasty and healthy. And while making smarter food choices should a concern, grilling should mostly be about spending time with friends and family. So enjoy with Memorial Day, and if you have any nutrition questions feel free to come speak with me at the front desk.

 

- Pat