February is American Heart Month. For many years doctors and nutritionists have preached to cut red meat from the diet to improve heart health, but now new research shows that a moderate amount of lean beef (3oz to 5oz per day) is not only acceptable, but actually beneficial.
Beef is loaded with nutrients such as protein, zinc, B-12, selenium, phosphorus, choline, niacin, B-6, iron, and riboflavin.
A new review by US News & World Report listed the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) as the best overall diet as well as the best diet for healthy eating and the best diabetes diet. The DASH diet allows for 1oz to 3oz of lean beef.
In a recent study by Penn State, three diets were compared to the healthy American diet. The DASH diet, the BOLD diet (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet), and the BOLD+ diet (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet plus additional protein). The study used 1oz beef for the DASH diet, 4oz beef for the BOLD diet, and 5.4oz beef for the BOLD+ diet. The healthy American diet had twice the amount of saturated fat as the other three, and only 0.7oz beef.
The BOLD and DASH diets had a decrease of 4 percent of total cholesterol and the BOLD+ had a 5 percent decrease of total cholesterol. Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) had a 6 percent decrease on DASH, 5 percent decrease on BOLD, and 4.5 percent decrease on BOLD+.
According to the researchers, "To our knowledge, this was the first controlled-consumption study that showed an increase in lean-beef consumption while controlling saturated fat in the context of a heart-healthy diet associated with significant decreases in LDL cholesterol."
The next time you visit the grocery store or butcher, be sure to stock up on lean beef. Click for a list of the 29 cuts of beef considered lean. All contain less fat than a skinless chicken thigh.
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