There are many types of food in the world, and one of those foods is meat. When it comes to meat, there are a couple of different types.
Two of them are lean meat and finally processed meat. Some meats will fall into the lean meat category, while others will fall into processed meat. This time we are going to focus on lean meat.
In this article, we will discuss what is considered lean meat, the benefits and risks, and finally, how much you should eat. By the end, you will know everything you need to know about lean meat.
Contents
What Counts as Lean Meat?
If you are looking for a type of meat that is chock full of protein, then lean meat is for you. To be specific, lean meats are meats that have a low amount of fat.
Some examples of lean meat include turkey, red meat with fat trimmed off, and skinless chicken.
This type of meat has a lot of benefits to it, which we will touch on in the next section. If you are unsure of how to tell if you are getting a lean, mean cut, don’t hesitate to ask the butcher or whoever is at the deli.
Benefits of Eating Lean Meat
As you would expect, there are a lot of benefits to eating red meat. This includes:
- Lean meat has a lot of protein, which is very important for your body to function. If you want to get protein, getting it from lean meat is a great idea.
- Other things you can also find in meat are vitamin B12, iron, zinc, and niacin. Iron is especially important because it can help you from being anemic. If you suffer from anemia, you are at risk of dizziness and feeling very lightheaded.
- Finally, lean meat is low in fat, so if you are trying to maintain your weight or go on a diet, it’s good to add some of it to your diet.
These are the biggest benefits of eating red meat, however, you must also remember that where benefits exist, so do risks.
It’s utterly impossible to have one without the other.
Risks of Eating Lean Meat
Sadly, eating lean meat does come with some risks. It is healthy, but it isn’t perfect.
- Lean meat is high in cholesterol, sodium, and saturated fats, and all of them can cause a lot of problems regarding your health. Cholesterol is especially a problem because it can cause high cholesterol, which can affect your heart. There are no symptoms of high cholesterol and the only way to even tell if you have it is for your doctor to give you a specific blood test.
- You can have a greater risk of cancer depending on if you eat a lot of lean meat.If you are eating unprocessed red meat every day, then this gives you a 13 percent chance of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer.Both of these can cause a lot of health problems and possibly lead to death.
- If you eat a lot of lean meat, you can be at riskfor type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, colorectal cancer, and finally, stroke.All of these cause huge lifestyle changes that will probably affect you for the rest of your life.
So here you have the risks of eating lean meat. Hey, nothing is perfect!
How Much Lean Meat Should You Consume?
In life, we must do things in moderation and not indulge all the time. The reason for this is so we don’t put our health at risk.
This is especially true when it comes to food. Some of the most delicious foods are so bad for us, and even those that are good shouldn’t be eaten all the time.
It is recommended that people who eat lean meat consume about 455 grams of it per week.
Now, this could vary if we are talking about a child or someone with health issues, but normal, healthy adults can eat that recommended amount.
Final Thoughts
And there you go, all you lean meat lovers out there! Now you know what counts as lean meat, what the benefits and risks there are, and finally, how much you should eat.
There are so many types of lean meat you can get, so if one does not appeal to you, you can always get another.
Just always make sure to use safe food practices!
You might also be interested in the following:
- Is Egg Considered Meat?
- Is Shrimp Considered Red Meat?
- Is Seafood Considered Red Meat?
- Is Pork Considered Red Meat?
- Is Lamb Considered Red Meat?
- Is Ham Considered Red Meat?
- Is Fish Considered Red Meat?
- Is Chicken Considered Red Meat?
- What Is Considered White Meat?
- What Is Considered Processed Meat?
- What Is Considered Red Meat?
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.