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Show Red-meat eaters have a beef For instance, Mendenhall says if you look at the nutritional information informa-tion provided by McDonald's you'll see that their fish sandwich is no bargain when it comes to fat or cholesterol. The fish sandwich contains more than twice the fat, and one-third more cholesterol than a McDonald's regular hamburger. ham-burger. The jury is still out on the effects of eating a diet high in cholesterol, but if you are concerned about your cholesterol consumption, don't blame beef, he says. By DENNIS HINKAMP Consumer Information Writer Utah State University It's not easy being bovine. Every self-righteous health nut attacks you by going straight for the Big Mac. Svelte athletes and models smugly pronounce that the secret to their photogenic bodies is "giving up red meat." I have to admit occasionally shunning a burger in favor of a fish sandwich myself. What can I say? I was thrown in with the wrong group of people. At the time it just seemed like the thing to do. If you look at the numbers, though, there is little basis to ban the burger from your life, especially especial-ly if you are doing so mainly to avoid cholesterol, says Dr. Von Mendenhall, extension food scientist scien-tist in the Utah State University College of Family Life. Cholesterol is contained in all animal products, not just beef, he says. Mendenhall says America's favorite fish product, shrimp, has more than twice the cholesterol of an equal weight serving of beef. Chicken and turkey both have slightly more cholesterol than beef. Chicken, turkey and most types of fish still do contain less overall fat than beef, but Mendenhall warns that total fat and total cholesterol are two separate issues. The amount of fat in servings serv-ings of various meats varies greatly with the cut and method of preparation. prepa-ration. The way we prepare seafood such as shrimp and codfish usually breaded and deep fried may alter the fat content of a normally nor-mally low-fat food, he savs. |
