Healthy meat recipes

Give priority to mainstream categories that are low in saturated fat and high in high-quality protein, and control the total daily intake within the 40-75g range recommended by the Dietary Guidelines, and then flexibly adjust according to your own physical condition and dietary preferences.

Don’t listen to the rumors spread on the Internet that “you need to boil chicken breasts to be healthy” and “eating red meat is a chronic suicide.” I have a friend who has practiced fitness for three years. In order to reduce body fat, he ate a pound of chicken breasts a day. After eating for three months, his uric acid level soared to 560 during a physical examination. The doctor asked him to reduce the amount of meat per day to 2 taels, and eat some red meat, fish and shrimp every other day. Within two months, the index fell back to the normal range.

The often mentioned white meat (poultry, fish, shrimp, and shellfish) is indeed the first choice for daily consumption. The saturated fat content is generally lower than that of red meat. Especially the EPA and DHA in deep-sea fish have clear benefits for children’s brain development and adults’ cardiovascular care. However, there is no need to myth it. In the past, a relative always said that shrimps are too high in cholesterol. In fact, the 2022 Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents has long deleted the upper limit of daily cholesterol intake. It is perfectly fine for ordinary healthy people to eat a dozen shrimps a day. Only people with abnormal cholesterol metabolism and familial hypercholesterolemia need to take special measures to control it. It is also worth mentioning here the differences between different dietary schools: People who insist on a low-fat diet will recommend removing poultry skin as much as possible and eating less salmon with high fat content, while practitioners of the ketogenic diet prefer high-fat deep-sea fish and skin-on poultry, and will even deliberately add less Eat more fat to supplement fat. Currently, there is no completely unified conclusion in the academic circles on the intake threshold of saturated fat. Ordinary people do not need to fall into one camp. If you like to eat grilled chicken legs with skin, eat them two or three times a week. Don’t eat too much each time. You don’t have to feel guilty at all.

As for red meat, which has been put on the "blacklist" by many people, it is really not that terrible. The content of heme, iron, zinc and vitamin B12 in red meat such as pork, beef and sheep is unmatched by white meat. In order to lose weight in the past two years, my sister only ate boiled shrimp and chicken breasts. She often felt dizzy in class and was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia. Later, I added lean beef and stir-fried green peppers three times a week. Within half a month, she no longer suffered from dizziness. Of course, we have to be objective. The WHO classifies red meat as a class 2A carcinogen, which means "possibly carcinogenic to humans." The relevant evidence comes from studies on long-term and large intakes - that is, if you eat more than 100g of red meat every day, or eat high-fat red meat such as braised pork ribs and roasted lamb, if you eat it three or four times a week, each time you eat a piece of lean beef or pork tenderloin as big as your palm, there will be no problem at all, and it will be very beneficial to preventing iron deficiency anemia.

As for processed meat products, no matter which diet theory you believe in, it is recommended to eat them as little as possible. Sausages, bacon, luncheon meats, cured meats, etc. not only contain excessive salt, but may also contain nitrite residues. The WHO directly classifies them as Class 1 carcinogens, which means they clearly pose a risk of cancer to humans. Of course, there is no need to give up completely. You can go out camping with friends on the weekends and fry bacon-wrapped asparagus. If you are craving for it, you can eat some grilled sausage to relieve your boredom. It is totally fine. Just don’t eat it for breakfast every day with porridge.

To be honest, when I prepare my own meals, I never decide which meat I must eat on any given day. After getting off work early, I fry a mackerel, sprinkle some black pepper to make it fragrant, and serve it with half a bowl of brown rice and boiled broccoli. It can be done in about ten minutes. ； When I'm too lazy to move, I fry some lean pork shreds with starch and fry a green pepper. It's very tender. The protein content is about the same as that of chicken breasts, and it's not too hot. ； When I get cravings on weekends, I stew a pot of braised pork. I eat two pieces at a time. It’s so delicious that I can eat half a bowl more of rice. My blood lipids have never exceeded the standard during physical examinations. There is really no need to force yourself to eat boiled chicken breasts that you can’t swallow. Healthy eating is a long-term thing. A good combination is a combination that can be sustained. For the sake of so-called "health", you have to torture your mouth and eat a high-oil hot pot after eating it twice, but it is not worth the gain.

To put it bluntly, when it comes to eating meat healthily, don’t be bound by various rules on the Internet, and don’t always focus on which kind of meat is “healthiest”. Eat different types, control the amount, eat happily, and feel comfortable, which is better than anything else.