Whether you're currently losing weight or maintaining a healthy lifestyle with any of Metabolic's dietary programs, you'll notice we always emphasize LEAN meat. For most meat, more fat means more flavor. You don't have to sacrifice flavor and tenderness for leaner options.
Read the Label
The USDA grades meat based on juiciness, flavor and texture. That's it. They do not take any nutritional value into account. The grades labeled "Prime" are fatty cuts with layers of marbling throughout. "Choice" labeled cuts are higher quality but leaner meats and "Select" labeled cuts are the leanest meat with little to no marbling.
Know Your Numbers
Some fat is essential to a healthy diet. How much fat varies with each person according to dietary needs and lifestyle. Know before you go to the store what your daily/weekly fat intake should be so that you can make the best meat decisions possible. If you need help determining what that healthy number is, call your nearest Metabolic Medical Center, we'll be glad to talk to you.
Free At Last
Meat products are moving past a focus on fat content and into environmental and ethical concerns, (think grass-fed beef and free range chicken). These options tend to naturally have less fat. Since they have less they can be tougher than traditionally raised livestock and poultry. The flavor is described as being much better, however, cage-free and grass fed options tend to be more expensive.
From the Ground Up
Ground meat is a wonderful convenience but pay close attention to the package. "Regular ground beef" can contain as much as 30% fat. If you're looking for leaner, look for 90%-95% lean options and add seasoning to flavor the meat. This applies to ground turkey and chicken as well. You may think the healthier ground option will come from poultry, and for the most part it does, but check those labels too for your leanest option.
Graphic by Tantika Tivorat
