Eating Lean Beef Daily Can Help Lower Cholesterol
For quite some time, red meat has not been included in many heart-healthy diets and has even been associated with heart disease and high levels of LDLs, or 'the bad cholesterol'. But a new study reveals that including lean beef in your daily diet can lower your LDL levels and improve the health of your heart.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the study which concluded that a heart-healthy diet incorporating lean beef daily is as effective at improving cholesterol levels as traditional heart-healthy diets that focus on low fat diary foods, fish and poultry. For the study, researchers at Pennsylvania State University investigated the effects of lean beef in cholesterol-lowering diets in a study called "Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet" (BOLD).i
In this study, researchers tested two levels of lean beef in heart-healthy diets: the BOLD diet, which included 4 ounces of lean beef every day, and the BOLD-PLUS diet, which contained 5.4 ounces of lean beef every day. Study participants consuming both the BOLD and BOLD-PLUS diets experienced a 10 percent decrease in their LDL cholesterol levels from the start of the study. The improvements in heart health risk factors seen from these two diets were as effective as other diets.
The body of evidence supporting lean beef in a healthy diet is strong.
To further support your desire to eat beef, one the most nutrient-rich foods available, Harvard researchers recently conducted a review of 20 epidemiological studies encompassing more than a million participants and concluded that red meat is not associated with increased heart-disease risk.ii The consistency of these findings with this week's BOLD study should further encourage you to add lean beef to your family's diet.
Researchers have suggested unnecessarily restricting beef may reduce adherence to low-fat diets, defeating their long-term effectiveness.iii Flexibility to include more nutrient-rich foods people enjoy is important for health professionals to consider as they strive to help Americans build healthier diets that include popular foods like lean beef.
Your Lean Beef Takeaways:
- Eat 4.0 to 5.4 ounces of lean beef per day as part of a heart-healthy diet with less than 7 percent of calories from saturated fat.
- Including lean beef daily has the potential to lead to a 10 percent decrease in LDL cholesterol from baseline.
- Nutrient-rich cuts of lean beef, such as Top Sirloin steak, Tenderloin and 95% lean Ground Beef, are readily available in grocery stores today. In fact, 17 of the top 25 most popular fresh meat cuts sold at retail are lean and can be part of a solution to building a heart-healthy diet.
This latest study on beef's role in a heart-healthy diet provides you with additional science to make evidence-based recommendations. To make things easy, we offer a Petit Filet of Beef Tenderloin that is up to 98% fat free and comes ready to cook in an oven safe tray. Click for store locations to find where to buy.
Or, to find lean beef recipes like those used in the study, visit our Family Meal Solutions Blog.
i. Roussell MA, Hill AM, Gaugler TL, West SG, Vanden Heuvel JP, Alaupovic P, Gillies PJ, Kris-Etherton PM. Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet study: effects on lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins. Am J Clin Nutr 2012; 95(1). Internet: http://bit.ly/BOLDAJCN (accessed 14 December 2011).
ii. Micha R, Wallace SK, Mozaffarian D. Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Circulation 2010; Jun1: 121 (21): 2271-83.
iii. Hunninghake DB, Maki KC, Kwiterovich PO, Davidson MH, Dicklin MR, Kafonek SD. Incorporation of lean red meat into a National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet: A long-term, randomized clinical trial in free-living persons with hypercholesterolemia. J Am Coll Nutr. 2000; 19:351-360.