Good Morning Carnivores:

Now I know not all of you are meat eaters, however, with BBQ season about to burst onto the scene and as graduations and summer vacations begin to spawn more evenings out, I figured this is a good time to uncover some not so common basics.

First off, not all meat is created equally. As I am sure you’re aware, the leanest meat is a skinless Chicken Breast. My fine un-feathered friend comes in at 1 gram of fat per ounce. Interestingly, the fattest meat per ounce is the Chicken Thigh – totaling more than 3 grams of fat per ounce with 30% being saturated!

But if you’re like most people and have to eat red meat, the following should be of great interest:

The leanest cuts of red meat are: Eye of Round, Sirloin Tip, Top Round, Bottom Round, Top Sirloin and Brisket. They range between 1.3 and 1.6 grams of fat per ounce respectively. However, the saturated fat content for each of those hovers around 40 percent; while my friend the Chicken Breast undercuts them at 30.

If fish is your thing, English Sole, Haddock, Barramundi, Cod, Monkfish, Hake and Grouper all contain less than two percent fat and have low mercury levels, which means that they can be eaten more than twice a week. Other low fat fish are Mahi-mahi, Tuna and Tilapia. However, because of their higher mercury content, don’t eat any combination of them more than two times a week.

Shellfish like Alaskan King Crab is low in fat and helps reduce the amount of “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides in your system. Lobster is extremely low in fat. However, it is high in sodium; so it avoid if you suffer from gout or high blood pressure. Oysters contain health omega 3 fatty acids which lower triglycerides. Crayfish is packed with protein and B-12. Mussels are full of iron and B-12. One serving of Clams provides a six-week supply of B-12 and a two-day supply of iron. Shrimp are a great source of protein too!. Abalone is low in fat, packed with protein, but high in sodium. Scallops provide quality protein and are super low in calories.

A few words of caution…if you’re gonna feast on creatures that live under the sea, be careful when preparing them or ordering them when dining out. There are many ways to prepare seafood and the manner in which it is cooked can make or break anyone’s diet! I’ll touch on that next week, so stay tuned!

Now, before I say good-bye, I would like to address an issue regarding last week’s installment. Many of you felt that I was speaking directly to you and taking you to task by my “criticism” of what I believe most people consider to be a hike or minimizing any effort on your part to be active while you’re out of your regular routine. That wasn’t my intention and I apologize for coming across that way. Of course any effort on anyone’s part to be active while on vacation, out-of-town on business or just dealing a particular busy week’s nuances is to be applauded and not demeaned. Sometimes I forget not everyone (or anyone) is as obsessed as I.