Health Benefits of Meat

I know you are having a great time following me on my posts concerning tips on our Food Ingredients. This week we want to consider the health value in consuming the various types of meat.

Most people prefer to go vegan due to the increasing alarm on meat consumption but they forget that meat contains all the amino acids their body requires to function properly. We should also bear in mind that despite the health benefits it should be consume in moderation. The following outlines the reason for eating meat.

Assorted meat

Grilled Chicken

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CONSUMING MEAT

• Meat is a rich source of amino acids which are the building blocks of protein.
• Meat  contain mineral such as zinc, vitamin B 12, selenium, phosphorus, niacin, vitamin B6, choline, riboflavin and iron. Iron helps in the formation of red blood cells transports oxygen to different parts of your body whiles selenium breaks down the fat and chemicals in the body.
• Meat contain vitamins such as vitamin A, B, D and K. these helps in good vision, and also promote good mental health. 
• The fat content of meat can vary widely depending on the type of meat; farm reared animals has      more fat than wild animals like venison.
•    Eating meat also helps maintain the health of your skin.

This ends our discussions on our complete source of protein. In my next post, we will consider our proteins from plant sources and you will learn that for a complete protein to be achieved, different sources should be eaten together. Let continue as we learn more. Please let me read from you.

Sources of Proteins and Factors to Consider When Buying Fish

It is great to have you once again; for this month we will consider the sources of proteins, what to look out for when buying any protein source and their health benefits in our food.

Today we want to look at the various sources of proteins and the factors to consider when buying fish.

 

Many sources of proteins exists and can be added to our meals. Protein comes in two major forms that are either from plants sources or animal sources. Proteins from plant sources are called incomplete protein and that of animals are complete protein. Plant protein are said to be incomplete because they may lack one or more essential amino acid to complement this, two or more plant proteins are to be taken together (e.g. corn with beans or corn with groundnut). Proteins from animal sources are said to be complete because all the essential amino acids that are needed by the body can be found in one particular meat at a time e.g. beef, mutton, fish etc.

For our discussion today we want to talk about our protein source coming from fish. Fish can be classified into white fish (contains less than 1% fat), oily fish (contains less than 25% fat) and shell fish ( mollusc and crustaceans).

Now let look at what it takes to choose fish either in the fresh state or the frozen state.

 Points to consider when purchasing fresh fish for food

Types of Fish

• The store where the fish is purchased should not produce any off odours.
• Fresh fish should have bright, clear eyes without any dullness.
• The fish should appear clean without any dullness or discoloured patches.
• A fresh fish should have no pungent smell.
• The gills should possess a bright red colour. When the colour faded, the fish is old.
• The flesh of the fish should be firm to touch and resilient so that when it is pressed the indention should disappears.
• Buy only at the finest fish markets in order to have it really fresh.
• Shell fish are usually purchased live e.g. crabs lobsters etc or the shell closing tighter when touched.
• Frozen fish should be completely frozen without the flesh of the fish broken.

I know you have really enjoyed this discussion and be making sure your fish is fresh all the time as you match it with the above factors.In my next post we will discuss the storage and the health benefit of adding fish to our meals. Please send me comments on this post i will like to hear from you.

Health Benefits and Safe Disposal of Oil

It is wonderful to have you again as we continue our discussions on our cooking ingredients. I know there is so much alarm on fats and oils that make people to easily forget its importance to our body as well as how to dispose it off after use. We will consider the health benefit and the safe disposal of waste oil and I am sure you will learn that indeed fats and oils are important in our food.

Have you thought of fats and oils as beneficial to human health?

Hmm, I know you are surprise about this due to the increasing issues about the intake of fats and oil. This has made people to lose sight of the fact that there is a need to add a moderate amount of fat in our regular meals to avoid heart related problems and obesity. Now let take a closer look at the health benefit of fats and oils in human foods.

• Healthy oils in your diet is most helpful because these oils contain high amount of monounsaturated fat which lowers the total cholesterol in the blood as well as lowers LDL thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
• Some oils have polyphenols that are antioxidants and have the ability to reduce the rate of aging of the body e.g. olive oil.
• Oils obtained from fish is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids which reduces aging, lowers body cholesterol and decreases the rate of developing heart disease.
• Some oils are rich in saturated fat which is a very good source of energy and they also have antioxidant properties that reduces the rate of aging and hardening of the wall of the arteries like coconut oil.

Safe Disposal of Waste Oil

After cooking, the ideal way to dispose of waste oil is by pouring it into a polyethene bag, tying and adding to the solid waste don’t pour it down the drain. If the entire bottle of oil has turned rancid discard the bottle together with its contents.

This ends our discussions on fats and oils.In our next discussion we are going to talk about protein in our meals.

Thank you for joining me in this discussion I am sure we have enjoyed this lesson. Please join me in my next post as we look at proteins in our meals. Please send me your comments I want to read from you.