Thursday, February 16, 2006

Beef has been given a bad rap for a long time. But today I was pleasantly surprised to find that my ultra-yummy Beef Sukiyaki dinner from Bento Nouveau is actually lower in calories, fat and sugar than the salmon and chicken teriyaki.

I was really surprised. I usually choose chicken or fish because I think it has less fat.

Has beef really become that much more lean than other meats, due to pressure from health nuts (and those legitimately concerned about cholesterol, etc)? Or was there just less meat in total in the beef version? (Although I saw the salmon and it looked SMALL).

Still, I'm quite happy about the nutritional value of my meal today. I think it was actually better than the soup deal at Tim Hortens (mostly due to the 300-calorie apple fritter that I love so much or that super-yummy fatmobile, the cream cheese danish).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel bad to be writing this, Cathy, but I thought I should tell you anyway... If you look at the table, you will see that the beef has more saturated fat than the other options. You have to make the difference between "good" and "bad" fat (saturated). I am sure you are OK with eating beef, but I don't think it is necessary your healthiest option there... and I would also question the accuracy of the table.

Unknown said...

You're right about saturated fat - there is more in the beef by far. That's definitely something that would be of concern to someone who has a cholesterol problem, but I don't have a problem with cholesterol.

My mom (a dietitian) confirmed that the the leanness of beef has improved dramatically over the past years. Of course, it depends on the type of beef. "Good" fat still has the same amount of calories per gram, which is what I care about most.

Cheaper cuts of beef, which this likely was, tend to be more lean, since people can keep them moist and flavourful by marinating and stewing. Steaks and other stand-alone cuts often still have lots of fat, since that's what imparts the flavour and tenderness (otherwise known as "yumminess").