Major
mineral contribution: Iron, phosphorus, zinc
About
the Nutrients in Beef
Like
fish, pork, poultry, milk, and eggs, beef has high-quality proteins,
with sufficient amounts of all the essential amino acids. Beef fat is
slightly more highly saturated than pork fat, but less saturated than
lamb fat. All have about the same amount of cholesterol per serving.
Beef is
an excellent source of B vitamins, including niacin, vitamin B6, and
vitamin B12, which is found only in animal foods. Lean beef provides
heme iron, the organic iron that is about five times more useful to
the body than non-heme iron, the inorganic form of iron found in plant
foods. Beef is also an excellent source of zinc.
One
4-ounce serving of lean broiled sirloin steak has 9 g fat (3.5 g
saturated fat), 101 mg cholesterol, 34 g protein, and 3.81 mg iron (25
percent of the RDA for a woman of childbearing age). One 4-ounce
serving of lean roast prime rib has 16 g fat (6.6. g saturated fat),
92 mg cholesterol, and 2.96 mg iron.
Diets
That May Restrict or Exclude This Food
Controlled-fat, low-cholesterol diet
Low-protein diet (for some forms of kidney disease)
Buying This Food
Look
for: Fresh, red beef. The fat should be white, not yellow.
Choose
lean cuts of beef with as little internal marbling (streaks of Eat) as
possible. The leanest cuts are flank steak and round steak; rib
steaks, brisket, and chuck have the most fat. USDA grading, which is
determined by the maturity of the animal and marbling in meat, is also
a guide to fat content. U.S. prime has more marbling than U.S. choice,
which has more marbling than U.S. good. All are equally nutritious;
the difference is how tender they are, which depends on how much fat
is present.
Choose
the cut of meat that is right for your recipe. Generally, the cuts
from the center of the animal's back—the rib, the T-Bone, the
porterhouse steaks—are the most tender. They can be cooked by dry
heat—broiling, roasting, pan-frying. Cuts from around the legs, the
underbelly, and the neck—the shank, the brisket, the round—contain
muscles used for movement. They must be tenderized by stewing or
boiling, the long, moist cooking methods that break down the
connective tissue that makes meat tough.
Storing This Food
Refrigerate raw beef immediately, carefully wrapped to prevent its
drippings from contaminating other foods. Refrigeration prolongs the
freshness of beef by slowing the natural multiplication of bacteria on
the meat surface. Unchecked, these bacteria will convert proteins and
other substances on the surface of the meat to a slimy film and change
meat's sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine into
smelly chemicals called mercaptans. When the mercaptans combine with
myoglobin, they produce the greenish pigment that gives spoiled meat
its characteristic unpleasant appearance.
Fresh
ground beef, with many surfaces where bacteria can live, should be
used within 24 to 48 hours. Other cuts of beef may stay fresh in the
refrigerator for three to five days.
Preparing This Food
Trim the
beef carefully. By judiciously cutting away all visible fat you can
significantly reduce the amount of fat and cholesterol in each
serving.
When you
are done, clean all utensils thoroughly with soap and hot water. Wash
your cutting board, wood or plastic, with hot water, soap, and a
bleach-and-water solution. For ultimate safety in preventing the
transfer of microorganisms from the raw meat to other foods, keep one
cutting board exclusively for raw meats, fish, and poultry, and a
second one for everything else. Finally, don't forget to wash your
hands.