Beef Up, While Slimming Down

Beef Up, While Slimming Down

By Lisa Murray RD, CDE, LN, Director of Nutrition Montana Beef Council

You’re off to a great start. You’ve made your New Year’s resolution to be healthy, slim down and have a plan on how to achieve your goals. I have great news for you: Beef can be part of your resolution to eat healthier. You can feel good about loving beef because the protein in beef is a powerful nutrient that helps strengthen and sustain your body. Because protein promotes satiety (feeling full), eating a protein rich meal or snack makes you feel full longer, and satisfies cravings faster.

If fact, choosing lean beef as a high quality protein is actually a calorie-saver! That’s right – when you eat beef you are making a smart choice. There are more than 29 leans cuts of beef available, most come from the round or loin, such as sirloin, tenderloin, round roast or 95% lean ground beef.

A 4 ounce cooked portion of lean beef provides 150 calories and 25 grams of protein. Compared to other protein sources, to get the same amount of protein you would have to eat three ½ cup servings of black beans (375 calories) or 7 Tablespoons of peanut butter (670 calories). Beef also provides 10 essential nutrients; zinc, iron, protein, selenium, B6 & B12, phosphorus, niacin, choline and riboflavin.

So you want to know how to include beef daily as part of a healthy eating plan? The BOLD study (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet) showed that eating lean beef daily as part of a heart healthy diet, significantly lowered cholesterol levels. The website BeefNutrition.org provides information on the BOLD study as well as one week of meals plans and recipes. Keeping your resolution to eat more healthy has never been so delicious.