Beef Up

by Kimberly Flynn

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Red Meat often gets a bad rap. But if you stick to the leanest offerings available, your favorite cuts of steak aren’t just good for you, they provide a bounty of nutritional benefits:

A FIRMER, LEANER BODY
Steak is a great source of protein—a typical serving actually exceeds your daily recommended intake. Protein helps you feel full and limits your calorie absorption, possibly by boosting levels of a hormone called peptide YY. And if you want to get the most out of your workout, you’ll need to make sure you’re getting enough—since it can help maintain muscle mass and reduce body fat during weight loss.

How dramatic are the results? Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that people who increased their protein intake from the USDA’s recommended level of 0.36 grams per pound of body weight per day to 0.73 grams (still well within the USDA’s accepted range) lost more body fat and less muscle mass than the control group. These folks also decreased their carbohydrate intake from 1.3 grams per pound of body weight per day to 0.95 grams. A likely explanation is that protein-rich foods contain high levels of leucine, an amino acid that helps preserve muscle tissue. And larger muscles burn more calories, helping you lose weight.

LARGER, STRONGER MUSCLES
Protein may help you get the most out of your workout even if you’re not trying to lose weight. In another University of Illinois study, participants who followed a high-protein, high-intensity exercise program lost a significant amount of weight; almost 100% of the weight loss was fat. A high- foods such as eggs, dairy, and other meats—may help make the time you spend at the gym pay off even more.

A HEALTHIER HEART
Half the fat in beef is monounsaturated—the same good-for-you kind found in olive oil. And the levels of saturated fat in lean beef are comparable to those in fish and chicken.

A HEFTY DOSE OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Three ounces of lean beef provides as much zinc as 13 servings of tuna, as much vitamin B12 as eight skinless chicken breasts, and as much iron as three cups of raw spinach. Zinc helps with cell growth and improves immunity; it also speeds wound healing and can help suppress out-of-control hunger pangs. If that weren’t enough, the vitamin B12in steak promotes the body’s production of red blood cells, helps keep the brain and nervous system functioning at their peak, and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and heart disease. And iron helps the body produce red blood cells and carry oxygen from the lungs to the blood cells and tissues.