Beef up your May
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EmailCelebrate May is Beef Month by firing up the grill to enjoy your favorite beef product, packed with nutrients and offered in a variety of lean cuts.
Warm May weather brings out beautiful flowers and every type of grill. Enjoy the warm weather and help celebrate May is Beef Month while enjoying your favorite cut of beef. Beef is packed with nutrients and is offered in a variety of lean cuts.
What is the value of beef?
While you may already know that beef is packed full of nutrients and tastes good, consuming beef also helps you reach your Daily Value (DV) for way more than protein. Just a 3 ounce serving of beef provides the nutrients to help you throughout your day. Beef’s Big 10 essential nutrients allow for a satisfying meal packed with nutrients:
- Protein = 48 percent DV (For a 2,000 calorie diet)
- Vitamin B12 = 44 percent DV
- Selenium = 40 percent DV
- Zinc = 36 percent DV
- Niacin = 26 percent DV
- Vitamin B6 = 22 percent DV
- Phosphorus = 19 percent DV
- Chlorine = 16 percent DV
- Iron = 12 percent DV
- Riboflavin = 10 percent DV
Wondering more about the nutrition of your beef?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration guidelines include at least 29 cuts of beef that are considered lean or extra lean. Examples include round steak, sirloin, top loin, tenderloin, 95 percent lean ground beef and many more. The guidelines state that “lean” is less than 10 grams (g) total fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat and less than 95 mg cholesterol per 3.5 ounce serving. “Extra lean” is described as less than 5 g total fat, less than 2 g saturated fat and less than 95 mg cholesterol per 3.5 ounce serving. The important part to note is that the serving size noted is 3.5 ounces. Often, the serving size consumed or served may be larger than 3.5 ounces. You can easily compare this size to the palm of your hand or a deck of cards.
What are popular beef cuts to grill?
Grilling season is full of opportunities when it comes to beef. The following steaks are the most popular grilling beef cuts thus far in the 2015 grilling season:
- Strip steak boneless
- Ribeye steak boneless
- Top sirloin steak boneless
- Ribeye steak bone in
- T-bone steak bone in
- Chuck center steak
- Petite sirloin steak
- Strip steak bone in
- Tenderloin steak
- Porterhouse steak
Find great recipes for grilling beef on the Beef It’s What’s For Dinner website.
I want to learn more about beef!
Michigan State University Extension provides nutrition education programs to youth and adults that discuss options for lean protein consumption. To find a class or additional educational materials, please visit MSU Extension Food and Health. Visit the Michigan 4-H and the 4-H Beef Management websites for more information on these programs, or consider downloading Animal Science Anywhere lessons to learn more through hands-on activities. For more information about beef in general, visit Beef.org.
