Beef is a popular choice for lunch and dinner, whether you prefer steaks, ribs, brisket or ground beef. In addition to essential nutrients such as protein, iron, vitamin B-12, selenium or zinc, beef provides a variety of different fats. Different kinds of fats have different effects on your heart health, and moderate amounts of lean cuts of beef are the best choices for an overall healthy diet.
Fatty cuts of beef, such as beef brisket, chuck eye country-style ribs and prime rib, contain saturated fat, which raises your cholesterol levels and may increase your risk for heart disease. Healthy adults should get no more than 7 to 10 percent of total calories from saturated fat, or 15 to 22 grams per day on a 2,000-calorie diet, according to MayoClinic.com. Lean cuts of beef, such as tenderloin, are lower in saturated fat. A 100-gram serving of porterhouse steak contains 7.4 grams of saturated fat, and the same size serving of sirloin has 1.7 grams.
Fatty cuts of beef can be high in monounsaturated fats, which may lower your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk for heart disease. If you have diabetes, monounsaturated fats may help control your blood sugar, according to MayoClinic.com. A 100-gram, or 3.5-ounce, serving of porterhouse steak has 8.2 grams of monounsaturated fats. Foods which are high in monounsaturated fats but low in saturated fats include peanuts, olives, olive oil, canola oil and avocados.
Polyunsaturated fats may lower your cholesterol levels when you choose them instead of saturated fats, and beef contains a small amount of polyunsaturated fats. Beef from grass-fed cows may provide conjugated linoleic acid, which is a specific type of polyunsaturated fat that may lower your risk for heart disease. Grass-fed beef comes from steers that cattle raised on foraged grass instead of processed grains, such as corn, according to MayoClinic.com. Nuts, vegetable oils and seeds are good sources of polyunsaturated fats, and are low in saturated fats.
Trans fats may be the least healthy category of fats because they raise levels of unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower your healthy HDL cholesterol, according to MayoClinic.com. Beef is a natural source of trans fats, but the main sources of trans fat for Americans are fried foods, such as French fries and doughnuts, and partially hydrogenated oils from processed foods, such as snack cakes and crackers. The trans fats from beef may not be as harmful as artificially-made trans fats in processed foods.
