Fire up the grill
John Schlageck
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The headline jolted me from my chair, “Being a Vegetarian” (the ‘i’ in this word was illustrated as a carrot). Clever, but the message in the story — how to eliminate meat from your diet — didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth.
Be honest, have you ever thrown a couple of pounds of linguine on the grill and watched it cook while you sipped a fine burgundy or single-malt scotch?
Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables. I eat them with every meal, but I consider them a side dish — essential but for me the main course is meat, whether it is beef, pork, lamb or chicken. I love fresh fish, too.
When it comes to eating, the truth is, nothing compares to the smell, sound and taste of a steak sizzling over an open fire.
Kansas City strip. T-Bone. Porterhouse. Rib eye.
Thick. Juicy. Delicious.
Fist-sized pork chops aren’t bad either. And don’t forget a grilled leg of lamb. Superb dining.
Unfortunately a widespread general consensus on red meat today can be summed up in two words, “Eat less.” This has triggered a decline in the consumption of red meat and a drop in income for livestock producers.
When it comes to making decisions about the food I eat, I prefer to consider the findings of someone who has conducted scientific research on what makes a healthy diet. The question here becomes whether the concerns about red meat are scientifically sound.
Dietary guidelines are supposed to tell us what we should eat for good nutrition. Numerous organizations have been issuing their own guidelines, and these recommendations don’t always agree.
America is made up of individuals who need to adjust their diets to allow for their own states of health, risks of chronic diseases and personal tastes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests eating two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts each day. The key is to choose lean cuts of meat and trim the fat from the meat before or after cooking.
No matter how you cut it, all lean meats are high in nutritional quality. Beef, pork and lamb have been recognized as healthy sources of top quality protein, as well as thiamin, pantothenic acid, niacin and vitamins B-6 and B-12.
Red meats are also excellent sources of iron, copper, zinc and manganese — minerals not easily obtained in sufficient amounts in diets without meats, according to food guidelines by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
One widespread misconception about red meat centers on cholesterol. Meat is not high in cholesterol.
Meats of all kinds, whether fat or lean, are low in cholesterol (about 70-90 milligrams per serving), USDA reports. This amount is too small to have a significant effect on the blood or serum cholesterol of most of the U.S. population. This includes those with normal blood cholesterol levels and who are not genetically likely to respond abnormally to dietary cholesterol.
Confusion about cholesterol arises when doctors or applied nutritionists speak of a cholesterol lowering diet. They are referring to any diet that lowers blood cholesterol not specifically to a low-cholesterol diet.
Lean meats eaten in moderation as part of a varied diet, including lots of fruits and vegetables, are not now and are not expected to become a cause of heart disease or cancer. Beef steak, pork roast and lamb chops are healthy and are here to stay.
Fire up the grill.
F John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.