Beef Fact Friday: BOLD Reasons to Eat Lean Beef

Photo Credit: Facts About Beef

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends lean beef as part of a healthy lifestyle! With that in mind, allow lean beef to help you power through your day while sticking to your New Year resolution for better overall eating and fitness. Here are four bold reasons why lean beef supports your New Year resolutions for today’s #BeefFactFriday.

----The following article is from Facts About Beef----

4 BOLD Reasons Lean Beef Supports Your New Year’s Resolutions

When planning and implementing your New Year’s Resolutions for this year it’s important to stack the deck in your favor, to increase the likelihood of your success. Many have found great success enjoying beef as a top source of lean protein and essential nutrients. Here are 4 BOLD reasons to include lean beef (and its many benefits) in your diet in 2016 and beyond!
Lean beef satisfies a heart healthy diet

Multiple research papers published from Penn State University Clinical Nutrition Research Center on the BOLD (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet) study have shown that a heart healthy diet, including lean beef daily, leads to simultaneous reductions in a variety of risk factors for heart disease including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (often called ‘bad cholesterol’), and blood pressure.
Today’s beef is a satisfying lean protein choice to support your weight loss goals

Protein plays an extremely important role in weight loss, and lean beef is equipped to provide you all the research-proven benefits. Research shows that protein rich food like lean beef may help increase feelings of fullness and control cravings, while also packing the ideal levels of a key compound called leucine, which helps your body build calorie burning muscle.
Lean beef is packed with nutrients you need, not excessive calories that you don’t

Calorie for calorie, it is hard to beat all the nutrients you get from a single serving of lean beef. When you are watching and reducing your calorie intake to aid in your weight loss efforts, it can be hard to get all the nutrients that your body needs to stay nourished and energized. Just a 3oz serving of lean beef contains more than 10% of your daily needs of all these essential nutrients – protein (50%), zinc (39%), vitamin B12 (37%), selenium (24%), phosphorus (20%), niacin (18%), Vitamin B6 (16%), iron (14%), riboflavin (12%). With so many flavorful ways to prepare lean beef, you can keep your diet exciting and fresh

A major downfall of “healthy diets” is the doom and gloom associated with their bland menus. Lean beef brings the variety and flavors that you love with the health punch your body needs. Don’t relinquish your taste buds to bland proteins and steamed vegetables when you can enjoy dishes like beef chili, fajitas, and sweet potato hash.

Tasty Tuesday: Mediterranean Beef Pitas with Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce

Get your lean beef, veggies and Mediterranean fix with this

#TastyTuesday recipe for Mediterranean Beef Pitas with Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce. It’s a light, delicious way to follow your New Year resolutions and #LiveAFlavorfulLife. This recipe not only would make a delicious dinnertime meal, but it's lightness would go great for your lunch hour, too! That's a win-win. Get additional information and nutrition facts at Beef It's What's For Dinner. 

Mediterranean Beef Pitas with Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds Top Round Steak, cut 1 inch thick
• 1-1/2 cups nonfat plain Greek or regular yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 medium cucumber
• Salt and pepper
• 6 white or whole wheat pita breads
• 3/4 cup plain or seasoned hummus
• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered or 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup halved Kalamata olives
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

1. Combine yogurt, lemon juice and garlic in medium bowl. Place beef steak and 3/4 cup yogurt mixture in food-safe plastic bag; turn steak to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 6 hours or as long as overnight.
2. Meanwhile, cut cucumber in half lengthwise; cut one half crosswise into 1/4-inch slices and reserve. Chop remaining cucumber half into 1/4-inch pieces. Add chopped cucumber to remaining yogurt mixture; season with salt, as desired. Cover and refrigerate.
3. Remove steaks from marinade; discard marinade. Place steak on rack of broiler pan so surface of beef is 2 to 3 inches from heat. Broil 13 to 18 minutes for medium rare (145°F) doneness, turning once. (Do not overcook.) Carve steak into thin slices. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
4. Spread pitas with hummus. Evenly top with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and steak slices. Sprinkle with olives and feta cheese. Serve with reserved yogurt mixture.

Beef Fact Friday: 30-Day Protein Challenge

Lean beef is part of a healthy lifestyle, and today’s #BeefFactFriday offers a great way for you to power up on protein and incorporate lean beef into your meal plans. The 30-Day Protein Challenge offers daily motivation to follow the fun, step-by-step plan to help you get the maximum amount of protein in your diet. Join the challenge today and learn about how adding protein to your meals can help you lose and/or maintain a healthy weight, support a healthy metabolism and age more vibrantly by consuming the high-quality protein that lean beef offers! 

Click Here to Learn More About the 30-Day Protein Challenge

BIG NEWS: 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Support Lean Beef in a Healthy Diet

The newest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reaffirm the role of lean beef in a healthy diet.

The guidelines mirror the 2010 edition on the USDA’s recommendations for lean beef, which includes lean beef as part of a healthy dietary pattern. In the past the Committee has contradicted itself on numerous occasions, excluding evidence from its review library and making recommendations without sufficient scientific evidence to support them. However, we appreciate that the final guidelines and recommendations by the Secretaries are based on the latest nutrition evidence. 

“Lean beef is a nutrient-dense protein available to consumers and the new dietary guidelines reaffirm the current research showing the positive effects of beef in a healthy diet,” ACA Director of Consumer Marketing Erin Beasley said. “We are pleased that consumers can continue to feel confident that choosing beef for their family will provide vitamins and minerals without sacrificing flavor in their meals. ”

First released in 1980, the Dietary Guidelines encourage Americans to eat a healthy diet and focus on foods and beverages that help achieve and maintain a healthy weight, promote health and prevent disease. These guidelines are now reviewed, updated and published every five years. During the reviewing period, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association worked to ensure the appearance of lean beef on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The inclusion of lean beef will have a positive impact on our industry because the guidelines serve as the foundation for federal nutrition policy affecting the design for school lunches and shapes the recommendations found on USDA’s MyPlate.

While there is no one-size-fits-all diet, Dr. Richard Thorpe, physician and Texas cattle producer, said consumers can feel confident about putting lean beef on their plate knowing the Dietary Guidelines recommend Americans choose lean meat. Thirty-eight cuts of beef now meet government guidelines for lean, including some of America’s favorite cuts like sirloin steak and 95 percent lean ground beef.

“Over the last decade or so, a significant amount of research shows that many people can lose and maintain a healthy weight, support a healthy metabolism and age more vibrantly when they consume more high-quality protein, within calorie goals,” said Thorpe. “As a physician, I see an opportunity to improve the health of Americans in all age categories by choosing nutrient-rich protein foods, like lean beef, more often and by pairing them with more vegetables, fruits and whole grains.”

Tasty Tuesday: Layered Beef Salad On-The-Go

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Those resolutions often revolve around improving your health and fitness, kicking bad habits or mending/strengthening relationships. Well our challenge to you is to embrace all three of those categories with one grocery item- lean beef! It can help improve your health, power your fitness, kick unhealthy eating habits with great taste and bring families around the dinner table. That sounds like a recipe for a flavorful life, and that's what lean beef can offer you this New Year! 

Don't leave those resolutions behind when you head back to school or work! Take them with you with this week's #TastyTuesday recipe for Layered Beef Salad On-The-Go! It's healthy, delicious and mobile! New Year. New You. Lean Beef.

Get all the information from Beef It's What's For Dinner.

Layered Beef Salad On-The-Go

Total Recipe Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 3 ounces cooked lean beef (such as Top Sirloin Steak, Strip Steak, Tenderloin Steak or Flank Steak), cut into slices
• 3 cups mixed salad greens or chopped romaine lettuce
• 1/2 cup assorted vegetables (such as shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, grape tomatoes, sliced radish, sugar snap peas)
• 1/4 cup cooked small pasta, rinsed drained chickpeas or Great Northern beans

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup Greek or plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons orange juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Combine dressing ingredients in bottom of medium container or small bowl with lid.
2. Layer salad greens, vegetables, pasta or beans and beef on top of dressing. Close lid securely or cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Before serving, shake covered container to coat salad well.

Movie Monday: Tailor Your Tenderloin

Tailor your tenderloin with the help of this week’s #MovieMonday. Tenderloin is a favorite cut in the beef family, so learn how to get a perfect cut from this lean, tender and juicy subprimal ALL WHILE pinching pennies. It's easy- check it out!  #OctBeefMonth

Beef Fact Friday: Lean Beef

Lean beef is all the rave. It's the "skinny" version of a powerful protein and that's why it's our #BeefFactFriday!

What is lean beef? See below for what qualifies beef as "lean." It must have less than 10 grams of total fat, less than 4.5 grams of saturated fats and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol. Lean beef is nearly half the protein you need in one day, provides 10 essential nutrients and only has 150 calories, and it's all wrapped up in that wonderful beefy flavor. Your best bet for finding "lean" ground beef is to grab some Ground Round.

That sounds like a win-win to us! Beef, It's What's For Dinner. Happy October Beef Month!

Movie Monday: Grading Beef Yield and Quality

Beef grading is a big deal. It's a big deal to packers because they want to sell the highest quality of beef possible. It's a big deal to retailers and consumers because they want their dollar to get what it's paying for. It's a big deal to the government, because it has their name on it!

Before any meat is packaged or any dollars are spent, the beef must go through the fabrication and grading process. At any given harvesting facility in the nation, there's United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials standing long hours in grading booths accessing each carcass as it goes down the line. They grade based on characteristics found between the 12th and 13th rib of a side of beef such as marbling, color of lean, age of the carcass and several others. 

This process is taken very seriously and is government regulated. That's why third-party USDA graders man this part of the fabrication process instead of just any employee available that day!

There's a lot that goes into beef quality and yield grading and a lot of weight behind the final grade given. This is important for producers, packers, retailers, chefs and consumers alike to know! That's why this week's #MovieMonday is all about how it's done! Check it out: 

Beef Quality Grading: "An estimate of the eating satisfaction of the carcass"

Beef Yield Grading: "An estimate of how much lean meat will be yielded from a given carcass"

Beef Fact Friday

Protein Power House

Did you know that a person should take in at least 0.5-0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day? This means that a woman weighing 130 pounds should ingest at minimum 65g of protein daily, while a man weighing 180 pounds should eat a minimum of 90g of protein each day. 

Research reveals that it's most beneficial for overall health and wellness that protein intake is spread evenly throughout the day.The folks at the Cattlemen's Beef Board say that the best way to accomplish this is to aim at eating at least 25g per meal throughout the day and supplement that intake with protein-packed snacks. 

Calories vs. Protein

Eating enough protein in your daily diet can, however, cause an influx of calorie intake that might not be beneficial to weight loss or management. For example, in order to get 25g of protein from quinoa, you'd have to eat three cups of it. First of all, who wants that much quinoa?! Second, that's 666 calories for one meal!

Similarly, to get 25g of protein from everyone's favorite snack, peanut butter,  you'd have to munch on six tablespoons of it! While that might sound delicious, it also adds up to 564 calories and not very nutritionally balanced.

Beef to the Rescue

Never fear, beef is here! If you were sitting there dreading the thought of three cups of quinoa for dinner tonight, stop what you're doing! You see, here at the Alabama Cattlemen's Association our producers are working hard each and every day to offer you a much tastier and nutritionally-balanced option. 

Beef not only provides you with the 25g of protein you need at meal time, but it does it in a much smaller amount and much fewer calories. To explain, only 3-oz of lean beef will get you your 25g of protein at meal time with only 154 calories accompanying it!

What's LEAN Beef?

In order for beef to be qualified as "lean," it must meet four criteria set by the USDA. (These criteria are based on a 3-oz serving of beef, which is about the size of your iPhone!)

• Nearly half of the daily value for protein
• Less than 10 grams of fat
• 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat
• Less than 95 mg of cholesterol 

Not only will lean beef help you get the daily protein you need, but because it is an animal protein, it provides you with a high-quality protein that contains all the essential amino acids the body needs for optimal health. 

Beef "Moo"trients

Speaking of optimal health, beef not only provides you with protein, but nine other powerhouse nutrients! Those are:

• Iron- helps your body use oxygen
• Choline- supports nervous system development
• Selenium- helps protect cells from damage
• Vitamin B12- helps maintain brain function, provides energy
• Vitamin B6- helps maintain brain function, provides energy
• Zinc- helps maintain a healthy immune system
• Phosphorus- helps build bones and teeth
• Niacin- supports energy production and metabolism
• Riboflavin- helps convert food into fuel

Moral of the Story? Eat More Beef.

So, whether you're trying to lose weight, gain muscle or simply feed your family, take the more nutritionally-sound track and eat more beef. It's safe, wholesome, nutritious and convenient!