Without a doubt, meat, poultry, fish, and seafood are excellent sources of protein and other important nutrients. However, knowing what to select and why is not quite so simple. Fatty meats can be a significant source of calories and unhealthy fat. Fish and seafood can be a potential source of contaminants. Another concern is the use of antibiotics and hormones with poultry, pigs, and cattle.

Here are some tips to help you out:

1. Choose lean cuts of red meat along with small portion sizes to keep the calorie count down as well as the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol. If you eat beef, I would strongly encourage you to seek out a quality source of grass fed organic beef. Lean cuts of grass fed cattle (also sheep and bison) can have significantly less fat than an equivalent amount of lean grain fed beef, as little as 1/3 the fat. Organic beef will be free of antibiotics and hormones.

2. As for fish, the potential health rewards of eating fish may outweigh possible risks for many people. The two contaminants of most concern with fish are mercury and PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls).

With the exception of women who are pregnant, might become pregnant, or who are breast feeding, adult women can safely eat two servings a week of fish or seafood. However, if you are eating more than two servings a week, select a variety of fish or seafood to reduce your risk of contaminants from a single source. Predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, tilefish, or king mackerel are more likely to have higher concentrations of potential contaminants than other fish.

Salmon is an excellent choice if you are watching your weight. I’ve included salmon as one of the top ten best choices for women and weight loss. (Top Ten Weight Loss Foods for Women) It is a great source of healthy fat as well as being a good source of protein and other nutrients. At the same time there’s good reason for caution.

A study from a few years back revealed that farmed raised salmon had about 10 times more PCBs, dioxins, and pesticide residues than wild salmon. The Food and Drug Administration claims that the levels of PCBs are not high enough to recommend limiting the consumption of farmed salmon. However, I believe there is reason for concern because PCBs and dioxin can build up in body fat and remain there for decades. In addition to health concerns, farmed salmon also poses a significant environmental risk for wild salmon and other fish living in their natural habitat. (Report Cites Health Risks of Farm-Raised Salmon) So, if you can, purchase wild salmon rather than farm-raised.

3. Choose organic whenever possible to avoid potential problems from poultry, pork, and beef that might otherwise have traces of antibiotics or hormones.

Low Calorie Portions of Meat, Poultry, Fish, and Seafood

Pork:

Lean Ham - 2 oz. - 82 calories (12.6 grams of protein)

Pork Tenderloin (lean, roasted) - 2 oz. - 92 calories - (16 grams of protein)

Canadian Bacon - 1 oz. - 40 calories - (about 6 grams of protein)

Poultry:

Light Turkey Breast Meat (oven-roasted without skin) - 2 oz. - 75 calories - (17 grams of protein)

Chicken Breast without skin (2 oz. oven-roasted without skin) - 75 calories - (16 grams of protein)

Beef:

Beef (Round/Loin)

Top Sirloin - 1 oz. - 60 calories - (8 grams of protein)

Top Round - 1 oz. - 56 calories - (10 grams of protein)

Seafood:

Water-packed Tuna (about 2 ounces) - 70 calories - (15 grams protein)

Shrimp - 3 oz cooked with moist heat - 84 calories - (about 18 grams of protein)

Cocktail Shrimp - 1/4 cup - 40 calories - (8 grams protein)

Crab Meat - 3 oz. - 94 calories - (19 grams of protein)

Fish:

Salmon (skinless and boneless pink salmon) - 60 calories - (10 grams of protein)

Salmon Jerky - 1/2 oz. - 40 calories - (7 grams of protein)

Tilapia fillet (cooked, dry heat) - 2 oz. - 73 calories - (15 grams of protein)

Some Brand Name Products:

Chicken of the Sea (Fancy Crabmeat) - 2 oz. - 40 calories - (7 grams of protein)

Butterball Turkey Breast (Oven Roasted) - 2 oz. - 70 calories - (10 grams protein)

Oscar Mayer Thin Sliced Deli Meat (Oven Roasted Chicken Breast) - 2 oz. - 60 calories - (10 grams protein)

Oscar Mayer Thin Sliced Deli Meat (Turkey Breast) - 2 oz. - 60 calories - (9 grams protein)

This list along with the ones I’ve shared previously should give you lots of ideas for healthy low calorie snacks:

1. Low Calorie Dairy Snacks
2. Healthy Low Calorie Fruit
3. Healthy Low Calorie Beverages
4. 28 Healthy Low Calorie Snack Foods to Go

5. Low Calorie Healthy Carbs: 100 Calories or Less

I would encourage you to create your own short list of favorite low calorie food choices. Then keep it handy so you can stock up when you go grocery shopping. You may also want to post a list on your refrigerator to remind you of what is available for those times when you need just a little bit of something healthy and low cal!

Till next time, watch those calories and remember to eat healthy!

By the year 2000, the average American consumed 31 tsp. of added sugar a day. This refers to ALL forms of sugar added in the processing or preparation of foods but not to the sugar that is found naturally in foods such as fruit or milk. Added sugar alone accounted for 496 calories! (Iowa State University, CARD, 2005) Are you average? I suspect you are NOT average or you wouldn’t be reading this article. However, you may be consuming far more sugar than you realize even if you avoid adding sugar to the foods you eat.

Fortunately the year 2000 seems to have been a turning point for Americans and added sugar consumption. Even so, total sugar consumption remains very high. This may be because much of the sugar consumed is not obvious. It is “hidden” sugar. Sugar you are simply not aware you may be eating.

Sugar is just a form of simple carbohydrate. As such it is neither good nor bad. Sugars associated with so-called “empty” calories or more specifically empty carbohydrates offer little food value other than calories (for example, candy and soda pop). Healthy carbohydrates on the other hand, are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and possibly antioxidants and other healthy substances we have yet to discover. Does that mean you should forgo eating Halloween candy or sugary desserts? No, but it is a good reason why you are far better off limiting this sugar to small amounts for special occasions.

The 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting added sugar to no more than 8 tsp. per day for the average reference woman eating 2000 calories. That would mean only 6 tsp. a day for 1500 calories or about 5 tsp. for a 1200 calorie diet. Wow! That’s next to impossible. Added sugar is in so many of the foods we eat whether we know it or not.

Image via WikipediaTo put this in perspective, a tsp. of sugar is equivalent to approximately 4 grams. Go grab a box of breakfast cereal from your kitchen and look at the Nutrition Facts panel. Unless you grabbed a box of Fiber One by General Mills, I’ll bet your box of cereal has 5 grams of sugar or more per serving and that’s on the low side. Sugar is added for a good reason, it makes the cereal taste better and we’re more likely to eat it. But if you are watching your calorie intake and doing your best to eat healthy on a low calorie diet, there isn’t much room for the added sweetness.

4 grams of Sugar = Approximately 1 tsp. of Sugar

So what do you need to look out for? The source of most added sugar in the diet of Americans is from soda pop and other soft drinks, candy, dairy desserts such as ice cream, cakes, cookies, pies, and sweetened cereals. I would imagine you are already aware of these.

There are many sources of added sugar, however, that may not be as well known as the ones I just listed. This is the hidden sugar. Energy bars often have a lot of sugar. Nature’s Path Optimum Energy Bar has 19 grams of sugar! Ketchup tastes as good as it does because of the added sugar. A tablespoon of ketchup might have 4 grams of sugar, the equivalent of 1 tsp. Van Camp’s Pork and Beans has 7 grams of sugar in only 1/2 cup. That’s almost 2 tsp of sugar! Many salad dressings, spaghetti sauces, and yogurts, especially fruit-flavored yogurt have a significant amount of added sugar.

If a food product is labeled as sugar-free or no added sugar, it means that no sugar was added during processing. However, foods may contain naturally occurring sugar or a product might be sweetened with a fruit juice concentrate (natural sugar). This is why you want to check the Nutrition Facts and Ingredient Labels when you buy packaged or canned food products. The Nutrition Facts label provides the total amount of sugar but it is not separated into the different kinds of sugar present. For that you will need to take a look at the ingredient label.

Sugar comes in many different forms. Here are some of the most common terms:

Brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, syrup, sugar substitutes, and table sugar.

Ultimately, your best bet to avoid eating too much sugar and the unnecessary calories that sugar can provide is to eat whole foods, with little or no processing and added sugar, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (beans). To get a better sense of how much added sugar you are consuming you might want to take a day or two and read the labels for every canned or packaged food you eat. Hopefully, you won’t be unpleasantly surprised!

Weight Loss Success: Are You Buying the Best Products? Part One

Weight Loss Success: Are you Buying the Best Products? Part Two

Till next time, watch those calories and be sure to eat healthy!