Making the Healthy Cut: Fish, Poultry and Lean Meats

While your dinner plate should include a variety of fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry add delicious flavor and can provide lean protein, zinc, iron and B vitamins. Protein may help people feel full and satisfied until the next meal. Protein is essential for building muscle and keeping strong – especially as a person ages. The American Heart Association recommends eating skinless poultry and fish cooked using healthier methods. If you choose to eat red meat, select the leanest cuts available.

Poultry

• Healthiest choices are:

  • Skinless chicken and skinless turkey with visible fat removed
  • Lean ground turkey or chicken – Be sure to read the labels as some ground turkey can add saturated fat to your diet. Choose at least 90% or 95% lean.
  • Wild game can be lower in fat than animals raised for market.

• Budget Tips:

  • Buy chicken or turkey parts with skin-on or bone-in, which tend to be less expensive. Just remove the skin and all visible fat before cooking.
  • Even better, buy an entire chicken or turkey and cut apart the pieces yourself. Choose birds that have not been injected with anything.

Pork & Beef

• If you choose to eat red meat, select the leanest cuts available.
• A portion of meat should be 3 ounces cooked (4 ounces uncooked). This is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards.
• Instead of frying, prepare lean meats by baking, broiling, roasting or stir-frying.

• Healthiest choices are:

  • Beef and pork labeled “loin” and “round” – they usually have the least fat.
  • Use “choice” or “select” grades of beef rather than “prime,” and be sure to trim the fat off the edges before cooking.
  • For hamburgers or meatloaf, choose 95% extra lean ground beef. If you have to purchase ground beef that is 90% lean or less, pour off the fat after browning.

• Budget tip:

  • The healthiest cuts of meat that are also the least expensive are beef sirloin, lean ground beef, flat-iron steak and bone-in-pork loin chops.