Hancock Regional Hospital: Choosing Lean Meats


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Diets for Health
·	Carbs and Diabetes
·	Low Sodium Diet
·	Eating for a Healthy Heart
·	Choosing Heart Healthy Fats
·	Choosing Lean Meats
·	Lowfat Dairy

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Choosing Lean Meats

WHY? To help decrease your cholesterol and saturated fat intake and in turn, decrease the amount of fat that can attach to your artery walls. This will help keep the blood flow going to your heart and your brain, thereby decreasing your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

MEAT CATEGORY	NAME OF MEAT	EXTRA LEAN (0-1 g fat/oz.)	LEAN (3 g fat/oz.)
POULTRY	Chicken/turkey white meat, no skin	X
POULTRY	Chicken/turkey dark meat, no skin Chicken-white meat with skin Duck or goose-skim fat off-no skin		X
FISH	Cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, trout, lox (smoked salmon), tuna/in water	X
FISH	Herring (uncreamed or smoked), oysters, salmon, catfish, tuna in oil, sardines (canned)		X
SHELLFISH	Clams, crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp, imitation shellfish	X
BEEF	USDA Select or Choice grades of beef-trimmed of fat: round, sirloin, flank steak, tenderloin; roast (rib, chuck, rump); groundround, steak (T-bone, porterhouse, cubed)		X
PORK	Sausage with 1 g fat/oz or less	X
PORK	Fresh ham, canned, cured or boiled ham, Canadian bacon, center loin chop, tenderloin		X
GAME	Duck or pheasant (no skin), venison, buffalo, ostrich	X
GAME	Goose (no skin), rabbit		X
VEAL	Lean chop, roast		X
LAMB	Lean chop, roast		X
CHEESE	Fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese, Fat-free cheese	X
CHEESE	4.5%-fat cottage cheese, grated parmesan,reduced fat cheeses (3 g. fat per oz or less)		X
OTHER	Processed sandwich meats (1 g fat/oz) like shaved turkey, chipped beef, turkey ham, low-fat hotdogs, kidney, egg whites, egg substitute	X
OTHER	Hotdogs (3 g fat/oz), processed meats with 3 g fat/oz like turkey pastrami or kielbasa		X
MEAT SUBSTITUTES	Beans, peas, lentils (cooked)	X

TIPS TO CONSIDER:

Choose “select” and “choice” grades of meat-these are the leaner cuts of meat. Select grades are the leanest. Choice grades contain a moderate amount of fat. Prime cuts of meat have the highest amount of fat.
Choose ground round or ground sirloin when purchasing ground beef. It may be listed as 90/10 or 95/5 meaning 90% beef and 10% fat, and 95% beef and 5% fat, respectively.
Bake, broil, grill, roast, steam or boil your meats and fish rather than frying them.
Use a nonstick pan and nonstick spray to brown or “fry” your meats.
Place meat on a rack so the fat can drain off during cooking, or use a “Forman”-type grill.
Trim off any visible fat or skin before cooking.
If fat accumulates during cooking, drain off the fat partway through the cooking process (next time, look for a leaner cut of meat). If cooking meat for soups, try to cook it ahead of time. Place the meat and broth in the refrigerator. After it has cooled, the fat will be hardened on top and can be removed. This will lower the fat content and the calories of the soup you are making.