Meat, Poultry and Fish

Beef, Pork, Veal and Lamb
Baking, broiling and roasting are the healthiest ways to prepare meat. Lean cuts can be pan-broiled or stir-fried. Use either a nonstick pan or nonstick spray coating instead of butter or margarine.

Trim outside fat before cooking. Trim any inside, separable fat before eating. Select low-fat, lean cuts of meat. Lean beef and veal cuts have the word "loin" or "round" in their names. Lean pork cuts have the word "loin" or "leg" in their names.

Use herbs, spices, fresh vegetables and nonfat marinades to season meat. Avoid high-fat sauces and gravies.

Poultry
Baking, broiling and roasting are the healthiest ways to prepare poultry. Skinless poultry can be pan-broiled or stir-fried. Use either a nonstick pan or nonstick spray coating instead of butter or margarine.

Remove skin and visible fat before cooking. Chicken breasts are a good choice because they are low in fat and high in protein. Use domestic goose and duck only once in a while because both are high in fat.

Fish
Poaching, steaming, baking and broiling are the healthiest ways to prepare fish. Fresh fish should have a clear color, a moist look, a clean smell and firm, springy flesh. If good-quality fresh fish isn't available, buy frozen fish.

Most seafood is low in saturated fat. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in some fatty fish, such as salmon and cold water trout. They may help lower the risk of heart disease in some people.

Cross-over Foods
Dry beans, peas and lentils offer protein and fiber without the cholesterol and fat that meats have. Once in a while, try substituting beans for meat in a favorite recipe, such as lasagna or chili.

TVP, or textured vegetable protein, is widely available in many foods. Vegetarian "hot dogs," "hamburger" and "chicken nuggets" are low-fat, cholesterol-free alternatives to meat.

Instead of this:

Try this:

Regular or breaded fish sticks or cakes, fish canned in oil, seafood prepared with butter or served in high-fat sauce

Fish (fresh, frozen, canned in water), low-fat fish sticks or cakes and shellfish (such as shrimp)

Prime and marbled cuts

Select-grade lean beef (round, sirloin and loin)

Pork spare ribs and bacon

Lean pork (tenderloin and loin chop) and turkey bacon

Regular ground beef

Lean or extra-lean ground beef, ground chicken and turkey breast

Lunch meats such as pepperoni, salami, bologna and liverwurst

Lean lunch meats such as turkey, chicken and ham

Regular hot dogs or sausage

Fat-free hot dogs and turkey dogs