Grass-Fed Beef and a Bean Burger Recipe

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. This was a particularly exciting weekend for me. Nick and I are officially in contract for our house! We put an offer in and it was counter-offered, then we counter offered the owner's counter offer, they counter offered again, and we accepted! We are moving in on April 23rd. I may take a couple weeks off from blogging while we get settled. But BOY are we excited!

Now I'm diving right into today's blog post topic:

Grass-Fed Beef

If you've read any of the posts by Evan at "Food Makes Fun Fuel", you have at least heard of grass- fed beef. Heck, you have probably heard of it anyway. Truth be told, I've never tried it.

A couple weeks ago The New York Times' "Well Blog" posted a great article about the benefits of grass-fed beef, compared to grain-fed beef.

Pros

• Lower levels of unhealthy saturated and trans fat

• Higher levels of Omega-3 (EPA/DHA)
  

• More vitamins A, and E

• Twice the levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), which may have chemoprotective properties and also may help prevent other chronic diseases.

• May be better for the environment, compared to grain-fed beef.

• 100-percent grass-fed beef is typically free of antibiotics and hormones (not always...).
  

Cons

• Regarding the "lower levels of saturated fat and trans fat", well, you can buy lean grain-fed beef (90 percent lean and 10 percent fat), which also has incredibly low levels of unhealthy fat.

• The levels of Omega-3 found in grass-fed beef are still far lower than that found in salmon and tuna.

• Some grass-fed beef may have a "grassy taste". I don't think Nick would like that a whole lot....

• It's almost three times as expensive as regular, grain-fed beef.

• When the label says "grass fed" it may not mean the cattle were fed grass their entire life. It could mean they were fed grass just at the beginning of their life. The article said to look for the label from the American Grassfed Association for assurance that your beef was likely on a 100% grass diet, throughout their life.
  

** Check out this fantastic article about the difference between grass-fed and grain fed beef; CNN.com (article) **

Quick, Cheap, and Healthy Recipe #17
Bean Burgers

Ingredients
1/2 diced onion
1 can drained black beans
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 slice cubed whole wheat bread
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Canola oil for frying the onions and the burgers

Possible Modifications

• Use any spices you wish
• Use any type of bean (pinto, red, etc.)
• Use any type of flour or bread
  

Instructions
Sautee the onions until they are soft to your liking. Puree the beans in a blender, or mash them with a fork in a medium (don't make them too smooth, chunks are good!). Add all of the ingredients to the mashed/pureed beans.

Form the mixture into 6 medium sized (~1/2-3/4 inches thick) patties (or you can make them larger and make 4 or 5 patties). Add a bit of canola oil to a pan and heat the oil on medium. Disperse the oil throughout the surface area of the pan, and then fry away! Cook until they are slightly brown on both sides. Cut through to the middle to make sure they are hot inside. Then enjoy.

I served Nick's burger with some cheese and pickles, with extra pepper on top.

Nick's Rating: 9 out of 10

I didn't try one because they contained wheat, plus I don't really eat beans because they give me awful gas (I would have to take about 5 expensive Beano in order to prevent the gas.....). So Nick had the pleasure of enjoying these babies. He loved them.

Nutrition Information

Coming Up

Tonight I am heading over to Urban Active for a couple hours, to market our services some more. As for tomorrow's post, well, I'm fairly certain it will be focusing on body composition. What is a healthy weight and body fat? What are the factors that effect our weight status?

Have a great evening!

Food and Supplement Label Claims

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! Last night Nick and I went bowling with some of my friends, and their husbands, from my dietetic internship. It was pretty fun, despite the fact that we all stunk at bowling. Tonight we are going to dinner with his family, which is always a good time.

I wanted to clear something up before I get into the topic of today's post. On Tuesday when I posted about supplements, Karen reminded to explain to my readers that supplements are not evaluated by the FDA prior to going on the market. I failed to mention that, but it's an important piece of information to point out. Supplements are treated life foods, rather than drugs. It's actually up to the manufacturer to make sure supplements are safe and efficacious. But you know manufacturer's are only out to make money, so can they be trusted? Some can, others can't, that's the risk you take. If you remember anything, remember this; NATURAL IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH SAFE! You also never know about the quality of a supplement, or whether what is reported on the label is actually what you are consuming, as this is not evaluated by the FDA either. However, there are third party companies that will come in and analyze the quality of supplements. The manufacturer pays extra for this service.

Remember to look for these symbols, which will indicate that a supplement has been tested for quality, contamination, and proper strength:

Nutrition Tidbit
Label Claims
There are three different types of label claims, two of which I will discuss here.

#1) Health Claims

Definition: Health claims link a nutrient in a food or supplement with the decreased risk of a certain disease or condition.

Regulation: The FDA is responsible for making sure foods and supplements make health claims that are not false and misleading. Normally the FDA will review a health claim prior to the product being put on the market. There are many qualified health claims, which you can view here. Does the FDA actually test the food or supplement to make sure it actually contains what the health claim says? Nope. That would just take too long, even though it would be nice.

If a product's health claim is ever brought into question, the FDA will re-analyze the claim. A good example would be Cheerios, which in May of 2009 was brought to the attention of the FDA because their claim to help reduce cholesterol and thus reduce heart disease wasn't really stated clearly, or in an appropriate manor.

Some Examples of Health Claims

- " This food is an excellent source of calcium, which has been shown to decrease risk for osteoporosis."

- "This product is low in sodium. Low sodium diets may help prevent high blood pressure."
- "The fiber in this product has been shown to decrease risk for some types of cancer."
# 2) Structure/Function Claims

Definition: Structure/Function claims link a certain nutrient in a product or supplement with a certain function in the body.

Regulation: How many time have you read a food or supplement label and thought to yourself, "Who regulates these? How can this company make this claim?!". The FDA doesn't regulate these claims until after they have been on the market, and after someone suggests to the FDA that the claim should be reviewed (similar to the Cheerios example, with the claim to "help reduce cholesterol", which was written in a way that made it sound like Cheerios was a drug that could be used as a cholesterol lowering agent).

Some Examples of Structure/Function Claims

-  Calcium can build strong bones

-  Fiber can keep you regular

Supplements are required to have the FDA disclaimer for all structure/function claims.

"This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease"

Question: Would you like to add anything to my label claim discussion?

Question: Any fun plans for tonight??

Coming Up

On Monday I will be posting my comparison of two new Greek yogurts! I also have some great quotes to share with you from my favorite book, "Slowing Down to the Speed of Life".

Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks for reading.