Why Eating Steak Could Be Good For Your Health

We often read about how it’s good to reduce the amount of meat we’re consuming, and that we should source our proteins from beans and pulses instead. However, the old saying “all things in moderation” has a lot of truth in it. It’s hard to make the ultrahealthy choice every time you sit down to eat, especially when you go out for a meal and all the tempting dishes catch your eye on the menu. At least when you’re at home, you have limitations set by what you’ve filled your fridge with!

But there are actually some benefits to eating red meat. Next time you're deciding what to pick from the menu and you feel like having a steak, you don't need to hold back: it could do your body some good.

The fat’s not so bad and it can intensify the flavor

Some diners might insist that the taste of a steak is down to how it’s cooked and focus on whether they’re having it rare or not. However, according to an article by Promopony on what makes the perfect steak, it’s as much about the cut as it is about the cooking. For example, a center-cut sirloin has more fat than a filet mignon, but the two cuts both taste good in different ways. The fat in a sirloin enhances the umami factor of the cut, which is what some steak-eaters crave.

People often think they’re making the healthy choice by choosing the less fatty cut. However, within red meat fat, there’s an equal amount of saturated and monounsaturated fat - the same heart-friendly fat combination found in olive oil. One study by The American Society for Nutrition showed that eating beef as part of a lean diet could actually reduce the risk of heart disease and improve cholesterol levels.

Beefing up your iron content

According to some researchers, around two-thirds of the world’s population have an iron deficiency and it’s not just in developing countries that anemia is a problem. For anyone looking to increase their iron levels through diet, beef has one of the highest concentrations of iron and the particular iron found in red meat, heme iron, can be absorbed much more quickly and used more efficiently than the non-heme iron sourced in green veggies.

Red meat can also be a good source of B vitamins. These include B12, which helps protect the major functional and structural body systems from neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease and infertility. Red meat also provides a range of other B vitamins such as niacin, folate, riboflavin and thiamin. The vitamin D in a steak can also help protect against rickets, a bone disease. There’s also zinc present, which boosts the immune system, and selenium, which contributes to the human antioxidant defence system.

Going back to the old adage of everything in moderation, it’s common sense that you need to avoid over-consumption of any particular food group. While there’s no issue with eating red meat, and there's evidence that it can be beneficial for your health, it’s sensible to adopt a balanced approached and have a few meat-free days each week too.