Design your diet
Meat – more or less
You well know that some meat is fatty and you might have noticed, like I did, that there is more taste in the fatty varieties. Bacon is a prime example. The streaky is delicious. This doesn’t mean that back bacon isn’t, it is just that streaky is even more tasty, as it has more fat.
I am using the word ‘fat’ in the broadest possible way
and relating it to all that I am talking about.
Look at the issues
If you investigate meat today a number of issues will crop up.
Almost immediately, 'medical' specialists will begin to separate different types of fat, by giving them different names like Saturated, or (I’ll break this into bits), mono-un- saturated and poly-something-something etc. I can’t remember them all, or which fat is better or worse than the next one from a Health point of view, because I’m not an expert, but whatever they tell you, just remember:
that it is ALL ‘fat’, from a Weight point of view and that means energy.
Find out for yourself;
it’s really interesting once you start looking it up, even if, like me, you can’t remember it all for very long.
I will illustrate a 'health' issue to be aware of later in this episode.
These days there is another issue cropping up and this is whether or not to eat meat at all.
I’m not getting into this debate, because it is up to you what you want to think about it.
The main thing that I am worried about is losing weight, by making the right choices for me.
I hope that you are doing something similar.
Go online and look up the issues if you are interested.
Whilst you are there just find out how much energy there is in the different meats, like 100gms beef = 288.
(You will understand the number if you have read the earlier articles.)
(Look at Ingredients > 10. Detective Work)
What are the others?
Different parts of the meat will also have more or less fat, for example, poultry skin has more fat.
Find out about different ways to cook meat if you are going to eat it, because it does make a difference.
Other sources of energy, carbohydrate, protein and sugar, have complicated stories, but meat is even more complex than them. When you have worked out what is considered ‘safe’ and what is not, you have to look at what you eat and how you might manage to reduce the energy that you will be taking in.
Take it steady.
Don’t suddenly scrap what you were doing,
just change it slowly.
Should you be eating that American-fast-food meat EVERY day?
One thing that your investigations on the internet will have told you, is that your body does need fat, wherever you get it from, to function properly, so crash dieting by cutting it out entirely, is NOT the thing to do – IF you could even manage to do that. I have seen reports of the death of ‘influencers’ trying to follow this kind of extreme Diet. We are not in that category, are we?
Processed meat?
Did you see anything about processed or ultra-processed meat? Any meat that has been ‘processed’ such as might be found in sausages, meat pies, hamburgers, beef burgers, is said to be statistically linked to the increased risk of developing cancer. This is not a weight issue, but you need to be aware of it and to search out more information, in order to make up your own mind. It is suspected that the problem is linked to processed meat having more salt and preservatives in it.
Unsafe?
When we look at almost any food, there may be reasons to avoid it.
There used to be a popular song about all the things that we like. The song was called, It’s illegal. It’s immoral or it makes you fat! Almost every food that we eat has been dragged into the spotlight and declared ‘unsafe’ for one reason or another over the years, rather like the song title.
One thing is certain, NOT eating any food will be even worse for your health.
Vitamins and Elements
The thing is, not to eat just ONE food, or the same thing all the time to the exclusion of the others. You should eat and drink a variety, a bit of everything, as balanced as possible, but not to excess. If you want to, you CAN eat bacon, but you have to know how much you can eat and how often (See Strategies > Boosting and Portions). The more you know about it, the easier it will be to get it right for you.
Images by E.C. Segar
Meat also raises another issue. ‘Experts’ (some producers?) will tell you of the other ‘beneficial contents’ to be found in meat. Take an example – ‘iron’ that some meats are ‘rich’ in. However, various other foods will also provide iron, which is important if you want to avoid becoming anaemic. Anybody old enough to have watched Popeye cartoons will know that when he needed strength to save his girlfriend Olive Oyl, from the dastardly clutches of Bluto, he cracked open a tin of spinach and ate the lot, sometimes sucking it in through his whistling pipe that he almost never used to smoke tobacco. This gave him the strength of Superman and he always saved the day and the girl.
We understood that it was the iron in the spinach that did it. Beef has nearly double the iron of spinach - but Calves’ liver has seven times as much. If you’re eating to increase your iron content, then you need to know which meat to choose. The point is, that we are not looking at contributors towards health such as elements and vitamins at the moment. Our main concern is weight; how to Eat less and Move more.
Looking at the shape of Bluto and Olive,
one of them has been following this blog and the other hasn’t.
Which one are you?
Beware. It is VERY EASY to eat too much fat.
Something else
Which is a bit different, but an allied subject.
I was watching a TV programme on Ready Meals on Channel 5 and Professor Giles Yeo from Cambridge University was explaining issues about meat to a group of people in a market place (above). The professor is a wonderful communicator and a top expert on everything to do with food. The participants were eating samples of Chicken Tikka Masala followed by a Vegan substitute.
The first question being asked was:
Which tastes better?
The tasters were clear that vegan version was much better,
as it had more flavour and the sauce was richer, with more texture.
The follow-up question was:
Which one is the most healthy option?
The audience expected that to be the Vegan version.
The point the professor was making, is that there is a perception amongst the general public that anything with ‘Vegan’ on the label must be a more-healthy option and this might not be the case. Bridget Benelam from the British Nutrition Foundation explained that a vegan recipe has to recreate the ‘taste experience’ of the meat meal and this probably involves the use of fat or salt. Professor Yeo illustrated the use of salt in the two samples. To do this he used bags of Salt-and-Vinegar crisps, rather like I have used tomato sauce – as a quantity indicator.
The meat option had the salt equivalent of 5 bag of crisps, whilst the vegan option had the equivalent of 7 bags.
He might have 'loaded the dice' a little? using the word Salt. He didn't use Cheese & Onion, or Prawn Cocktail. Zoe Davies from Action on Salt explained that because vegan products are plant-based it seems that they must be a healthier option than other products. The programme showed how the packaging is mainly in green and yellow, words like ‘holistic’ or ‘eat well’ inside flower-shaped logos are use.
The programme’s message to remember was:
‘Don’t judge a meal by its cover!’
They were saying:
‘Investigate – think for yourself.’
The same advice was applied to the Ready Meals themselves, but I won’t go into that.
You can read the ingredients on packets for yourself,
but there was a good tip that would save you money.
Use your own fresh ingredients and a Cook-in Sauce.
Weasel Words ?
I understand that one of the American burger giants has announced that it will ‘adapt’ 50% of its ‘products’ to be vegan by 2030. This is a headline grabbing statement (with my inverted commas), but there are a couple of words in there that are open to interpretation, so beware. Let’s see how they get on.
Talking about words. I bought a couple of (Top British supermarket) Steak Slices recently.
They were not cheap.
Imagine that delicious ‘Steak’- m-m-m
What does it mean to you?
In case you want a description, read the label
‘puff pastry filled with tender steak in a rich beef gravy’.
I’ll bet your mouth is watering - m-yumm
It said ‘filled’ –
repeat ‘filled’ with ‘tender steak’.
I sliced through the pie.
This is the reality.
Now, what do you understand by ‘filled’?
What do you understand by ‘Slice’?
Would you mistakenly think
a slice of steak?
and the 'rich beef gravy'?
The 12th item on the ingredients list is 'Beef stock (Yeast Extract)', this is a biproduct of the brewing industry that is sold under the trade name Marmite. The 13th ingredient is ''beef fat'. It seems to me, that this product description sails close to being deceptive.
Don’t believe a meal by its name.
Or its description on the packing!
Moving More
I had an old bike in a shed. Its been there for years. I was having a bit of trouble walking with a dodgy hip, so I dug out the ancient bike, swept off the cobwebs and found a pump for the tyres. It squeaked a bit, so I sprayed it with oil and squeezed the brakes. It seemed to work. I didn't know if I could balance it, but after a wobble round the nearest car park on a quiet day. I thought I would get the hang of it. You don't see fat people riding bikes do you? I've gained a bit of confidence. If you don't try it, you won't be able to do it. I'm getting quite brave.