Sausage Nutrition

This series of articles has been taking a look at nutrition, and just look at nutrition would not be complete without examining meat. Long considered the ultimate base of the American diet (meat and potatoes anyone?), Meat is usually the centerpiece of our meal.

Rich in iron, zinc and protein, meat is important (or should be important) for us all. The question is, what kind of meat is healthy and is most affordable?

Some meats are simply too high in saturated fat for regular consumption. Examples include most beef steaks, fatty pork chops, and of course the traditional pork (sausage and bacon). There are, however, quite a few meats that offer all the good nutrition we seek without loading us down with artery-clogging fat.

CHICKEN:

Hands down, the best choice for healthy and affordable meat is that old favorite the chicken. Choose white meat portions (breast) will significantly reduce our consumption of fat. Chicken breast is a staple of bodybuilders, among the healthiest people on the planet. The cheapest way to buy chicken breasts usually buy bags of frozen fillets, which can be found for $ 1.49 to $ 1.99 per pound.

A boneless chicken breast without skin (3 oz Serving) provides only 3 grams of fat (5% RDA) and 0.86 grams of saturated fat (4% RDA). That is about half the fat, even in the leanest cuts of beef! Be aware, however, that the meat of the "black" on a chicken is not as healthy as the breast - a boneless chicken thigh, skinless has 9.2 grams of total fat and 2.6 grams of saturated fat. That is triple what we find in the chicken breast.

A good way to incorporate more chicken in our diet is to substitute ground chicken and skinless for ground beef. When used in a recipe (tacos, spaghetti, etc.) it is difficult to differentiate, and the health benefits are enormous. Be sure to look for skinless chicken well on the ground, because if the package does not say without the skin, then it is guaranteed to be high in fat.

Finally, remember that the popular chicken alternative: the turkey. This is not just for Thanksgiving more!

BEEF:

Beef. This is for dinner. Many of us could not imagine happening in our beef per day of service, but have we considered the cost to our health? It is too tempting to put money and buy the "high beef fat" instead of leaner. It is also true that the fatter cuts are the least expensive (Chuck is an excellent example).

But beef is not with our expanding waistline! Take time to compare the nutritional value of different cuts, you can get from your butcher or beef.org. One of the healthiest cuts of beef is the flank steak which, when prepared correctly, is absolutely delicious! Round Top is also very low in fat, but it tends to crack when used as a juicy steak.

Love burgers? An excellent way to enjoy the healthy and tasty hamburger is to buy a round roast and ask the butcher to grind it into ground beef (make sure he or she trims the excess fat first). If you have trouble making this grind 'stick', try adding a raw egg to the mixture before forming patties hamburger.

When buying beef, look for words around 'or' square 'in the name of the cut. Eye of round roast, for example, has only 4 grams of total fat and 1.4 grams of saturated fat. Do not be afraid to ask the butcher to cut some of the excess fat - most grocery stores for free.

PORK:

No other food has been transformed into such fatty 'variations, from sausage to bacon to salami. For those of us who are fond of pork, however, there is hope! It is possible to buy lean (er) cuts of pork!

The tenderloin is the leanest cut of pork: a 3-ounce serving contains 139 calories and 4.1 grams of fat, which is roughly comparable to a skinless chicken breast ..