Meat
Meat. This is a common food item, served in many homes and restaurants throughout the western world. Most Americans eat like kings and queens compared to those living in other countries where meat is eaten less frequently and reserved more for special occasions.
Some of the most common types of meat eaten here in the United States are: Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, and Fish.
Thankfully, canned fish, like salmon and tuna, can be purchased for a cheaper price at the grocery store and can be made into things like tuna fish sandwiches and salmon patties. Tuna fish sandwiches are a common meal in our home on certain Saturday afternoons.
Beef is a very common meat, regularly consumed by many Americans. Beef has health benefits. Regular, ground beef can usually be purchased for a decent price in grocery stores. Ground beef often cooks up nicely and has a nice flavor, making it a top choice for those who eat meat. I enjoy beef, especially in tacos. Yum!
However, eating too much red meat, like beef, is not the best choice. Beef should be limited, not eaten in excess. Unfortunately, many Americans eat beef every day, in the form of hamburgers (like fast food) or in home cooked meals.
Why should beef be eaten less frequently? Because eating too much beef can lead to things like cancer and heart disease. For real. There have been many articles written about this, and sadly, most Americans are completely unaware of this.
Articles such as the one in the link below help to shed some light on this:
Growing up, my mom cooked ground beef only once a week. (usually for our "taco night") I didn't understand why my mom didn't cook with ground beef more often. Now I know why. My mom understood this fact about beef. So for us, my mom limited beef to once a week.
Rest assured, beef is totally fine to eat, and natural, grass fed, organic beef is even better if you can afford it. But beef of any kind, should be limited, perhaps once or twice a week, not every day. I know people who consume beef frequently (possibly every day), and they have health issues. I would not say their health issues come from eating too much beef, but it is a possibility.
Because I live at home with my parents and don't purchase much meat myself, I remember asking my mom something awhile back:
"Why do so many people purchase and cook with ground beef?"
After working in a grocery store for 15 years, primarily as a cashier, I saw what people purchased.
My mom's reply to me was on point, I think:
"Because it's a cheaper meat."
Ah, yes. Makes sense. Unfortunately though, what is cheapest is not always the healthiest.
Pork is another very common meat in the United States. This is one I would encourage avoiding completely. (same with shellfish) Pork has a reputation for being very unhealthy. Pork can (and does!) cause a host of health issues.
Dr. Axe, a well known doctor, writes about the dangers of eating pork in an article below:
I avoid pork completely. I do not eat it at all. If I want bacon, I purchase turkey bacon instead.
My mom never cooked pork of any kind in our home when I was growing up. Why? Because my mom understood how bad pork was for our health. I have much to thank my mom for! She did her research, and now, I can understand why she limited or completely avoided certain meats. Growing up, we ate primarily turkey, and now, we eat a lot of chicken. My mom still only cooks with beef once a week. Occasionally, she might cook with beef twice a week, and some weeks, none at all. She limits it.
Poultry, like chicken and turkey, are much better to eat than beef or pork. Why? Chicken and turkey are more lean meats. They are lower in saturated fat than beef or pork.
Earlier this week, I was in our local Walmart and decided to check out an area of the meat department. Large, colorful writing was printed on the wall above their packaged meat selections of: Beef, Pork, Turkey, Chicken.
I specifically looked for the price on the regular, ground beef, ground turkey, and ground chicken. All of them were about the same price - a little over $3.00 for half a pound (8 oz.) - with turkey and chicken costing slightly more than beef. (but not much more)
Healthier, lean meats like fish, chicken, and turkey can be fixed so many different ways! (especially chicken!) I know a woman, in her 60's, who eats chicken and vegetables every day, and she is very healthy. I've seen the difference in people I know, personally, in the meat choices they eat every day.
In this day in which we live, with easy internet access for most people, many, delicious recipes can be found online for making meals with fish, chicken, or turkey.
Processed meats, such as hot dogs and some lunch meats, are also meats to avoid as much as possible.
If you enjoy sliced, lunch meat for things like wraps or sandwiches, it's best to purchase real, sliced meat, rather than meat that has been overly processed with lots of nitrates and preservatives. Eating processed meat is not good for your health.
As I shared last year on this blog in my post about nutrition, if you are a healthy person, eating a little meat, especially better meats, is usually okay if eaten moderately. However, if you have cancer or any serious health issue, I would encourage you to not eat any meat at all.
Stay tuned as I plan to share a recipe on this blog for simple, easy to make, salmon patties - a delicious recipe I enjoy, a recipe handed down to me from my Great Grandma.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, and I have no medical training. The things I share on this blog are simple, practical things that I've learned help with good health.
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