Is there anything about red meat other than the typical high fat content that is bad, or not appropriate for a clean eating program? My husband is a hunter and I always have a freezer full of things like venison and elk, pheasant and wild turkey. This meat has no fat! I could eat red meat every day and not run out, but I always hear advise against a lot of it. Is it just the fat content of store bought meat that is bad?

Hmmm. I'm a meat eater too, and am careful about which cuts of beef I buy at the store because of the fat content. Free-range and wild game with little fat *is* probably the best way to go, but again I think it all boils down to portion control, and of course, how it's prepared.

Fitday, under the "other meats" category has many wild game choices, from opossum to squirrel. I just looked at venison and I would say it's a great choice -

4 oz. is 192.76 calories, 3.89 grams of fat, -0- carbs, 36.88 grams o protein. Sounds like a winner to me! I think you're fortunate if you have a choice like that, and I am now meat envious.

dip

We eat meat as well, but I rarely have more than 3 ounces of anything at a sitting. Although I strive to have fish at least 3 times a week, and I get to 4 servings in a really good week, I also eat beef, pork, and lamb. I usually cook 6 or 8 chicken breasts for lunches and snacks, and save the others for dinners. And I've come to the point that a "treat" is not a sweet or a dessert, but something really wonderful like corned beef or braised short ribs. They're really fatty, but they sure are good!

I've heard that wild meat are much better for you because they are well fed out there in the wild, rather than forced fed given, I can't find the name right now, junk to grow and get fatter faster,by certain farmers ...

D did a project on animal slaughter, she cried almost the whole time she did the project ... she found sites like meetyourmeat.com and peta.com, and they are quite graffic about slaughtering... As soon as she can possibly manage it she may be a vegetarian!

My two cents: I wouldn't call any of what you're talking about 'red meat' -- I always think of that as lamb, beef, and pork (despite the 'other white meat' hoopla ). The pheasant and turkey are like poultry and I know that vension, at least, is almost fat-free. Regardless, I agree that red meat per se isn't bad so long as you watch fat content and portion sizes. Sometimes I crave beef and will eat 95% lean ground beef or a filet. There's lots of good stuff -- especially iron -- in red meat so I don't think there's any reason to cut it out.

Most pork is also truly "not red meat." Pork does have some very fatty cuts (bacon, for example), but the rest is remakably low in fat and low in saturated fat. A properly trimmed pork loin is as healthy to eat as chicken.

I just always considered red meat 4 legged things that are not fish or fowl.

I eat heaps of red meat all the time and love it. I try and buy lean cuts though and limit my intake of ground meats. (not that I don't love them!)

JC