Joanne Turner's Blog by Joanne_Turner

I see many clients who avoid having red meat during the week as they mistakenly believe that red meat is unhealthy, high fat and can lead to heart disease and cancer. If you choose your meat right red meat can be a healthy nutrient dense food. Red meat including beef, lamb, veal and even kangaroo meat is a high protein source and has a range of essential nutrients important for good health. Currently recommendations for Australians are to have a red meat meal three to four times per week. A serving of red meat is about 65-100g of cooked meat (roughly the size of your palm of your hand).

Red meat is one of the richest sources of iron and has the iron which our body can easily absorb. Iron helps carry oxygen around our body to give us the energy, so if we don’t have enough iron in our body we are left feeling fatigued and our concentration levels low. Red meat is also a great protein source which is important for the immune system and growth and maintenance for our muscles. Red meat is also a very rich source of zinc, zinc is important for the immune system and wound healing. Red meat also contains vitamin B12 which is only found in animal products, vitamin B12 is important for the nervous system. Red meat also contains omega 3 which is an essential fatty acid that is needed for our body for healthy eye and brain development.

The down side of red meat is that it does contain saturated fat which is the unhealthy fat of the two types of fats in our diet. Saturated fats increase our bodies cholesterol levels and thus the risk of heart disease. However when choosing red meat if you choose the lean cuts of red meat, that is the meat with little marbling (the white flecks of fat in the meat), and you trim the fat off the meat before you cook it this will lower the saturated fat content quite significantly. Also because Australian cattle is predominantly pasture fed, beef here is also lower in saturated fat. To further benefit, when cooking your red meat choose low fat cooking methods such as grilling, barbecuing, stir-frying or roasting on a rack. Avoid your fattier processed meats including sausages, chorizo, salami, devon etc and always buy a premium mince.

So include some red meat into your weekly lunch or nightly meals. Add your red meat to stir fries, casseroles, salads, wraps and include a Sunday night roast. Now we are coming into the winter months try using a slow cooker, you will come home after a long day at work to a meal already cooked and beautiful tender red meat cooked to perfection.