Red meat

Lean red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb, can play an important part in a balanced diet and contains many of the nutrients essential for good health and well-being, as well as for healthy growth and development in children.  Red meat is one of the best sources of iron in the diet.

There are two different types of iron in food: haem iron, found in red meat and to a lesser extent chicken and fish, and non-haem iron found in breads, fruits, breakfast cereals, vegetable, nuts and eggs.

Haem iron foods are rich in iron and contain iron in the form that is easily absorbed by the body. Red meat also has a special effect on iron absorption. The meat when eaten together with the vegetables, can boost the absorption of non-haem iron by up to four times. Vitamin C also has a similar positive effect on the absorption of iron.

The key to an iron rich diet is to eat a combination of iron rich foods high in both haem and non-haem iron.

KEY NUTRIENTS DERIVED FROM RED MEAT:

• Iron  
• Protein 
• Folates
• Zinc 
• B Vitamins

Other useful nutrients

• Selenium
• Vitamin D

Click here to see Essential nutrients

We all need a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet, but certain groups of people may be more at risk of becoming deficient of some of the important nutrients found in lean red meat.
These include:

• Under fives
• Teenagers
• People dieting
• Women throughout their reproductive years
• Elderly people

In recent years, meat has been produced with considerably lower levels of fat. New butchery techniques remove most of the fat and provide cuts of meat that are ideal for quick cooking methods, such as microwaving, stir frying, dry frying and grilling.

FACT: Today, 100g of lean pork leg steak contains less fat than 100g of standard cottage cheese(1).

FACT: The leanest form of pork, beef and lamb today contains less than 10% fat, compared to at least 25% in the 1970s.

FACT: Less than half the fat in pork and beef is saturated, and only just over half in lamb.

Reduction in fat content achieved from the 1950s to the present day (for raw meat)

THE ROLE OF MEAT IN A BALANCED DIET
Lean red meat and lower-fat meat products, when eaten with starchy carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, form part of a healthy, balanced diet.

• The fat content of lean red meat has been reduced dramatically in recent years
• Many of the important nutrients in meat are found in the lean part, so it is possible to reduce the fat without reducing the nutritional benefits
• Red meat is a rich source of minerals such as iron (see Iron ) and zinc
• Red meat is an important source of many types of vitamins, particularly B vitamins, and vitamin D. In fact, red meat is now recognised as an important source of vitamin D and is considered the largest natural source of vitamin D, second only to vitamin D fortified fat spreads

 
For more information and facts click here to see Meateorite booklet