Navigating your Fort Worth, Texas meat and fish counter may be daunting when you’re trying to lose weight. You know that you need to include lean meat and fish in your diet in order to eat healthy, but you may not be sure which products to buy? Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as you might think.
Choosing Lean Meats
Protein is an important component of a healthy diet and meat can be a healthy source of protein, when selected carefully. Some meats can be high in fat, including saturated fat, so it’s best to steer clear of those if you are striving for weight loss. A good rule of thumb is to limit your daily saturated fat intake to no more than seven percent of your daily calories and fat consumption to 35 percent. To help with this goal, choose lean cuts of meat, which include top sirloin, top round, round eye, pork tenderloin, center loin, ham and skinless chicken breasts and cutlets.
Buying Fish
Fish is a great substitute for red meat and chock-full of protein too. Although fish does contain fat, it is not the saturated fat that’s found in red meat. Instead, most types of fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. You should eat fish two to three times per week, according to the American Heart Association. Fatty fish, such as salmon, sardines, lake trout, herring and mackerel provide the most heart-healthy benefits.
Purchasing Organic and Free-Range Products
Another component of choosing meats and fish has to do where the animals or fish lived and were fed. Organic meats mean that the meat doesn’t contain hormones, antibiotics or synthetic chemicals. It also means that it must pass strict requirements to receive this certification. Protein sources that are labeled “free-range” indicate that the animals were not raised in a cage. Lastly, “farm-raised” means that the animals or fish were not wild; instead, they were raised on a farm.
