We can say that we cannot leave any of meat, poultry, and fish out of our diet. We can easily find them in the main ingredients in our main course. Besides, some people have a kind of mindset that meat, poultry, and fish contain more beneficial nutrients than vegetables, fruits, and beans.
This is the reason why people put meat, poultry, and fish in the main portion of our diet, aside from the vegetables, fruits, and beans. We can also find that most children love meat, poultry and fish better than vegetables. And we know that it’s kind of difficult to turn children’s attention from meat, poultry and fish product into vegetables.
But is this true that meat, poultry and fish contains more nutrients than vegetables? Is the mindset supported by scientific explanation? Well, to know more, let’s get down to the health benefits of meat, poultry, and fish.
Nutritional Information of Meats, Poultry, and Fish
The nutrients contained in meat, poultry, and fish might be varied. However, we can take the underline for the three ingredients. Well, they are high in protein. Protein from animal is known to be the complex high quality protein which is over the top of the other protein from plants. Besides protein, these foods also have the other important nutrients as listed below:
- Iron
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- Vitamin E
- Thiamin
- Niacin
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
However, it is also identified that meat, poultry, and fish contains some higher fats and cholesterol compared to the plant protein powerhouse such Italian barlotti beans with its Health Benefits of Barlotti Beans.
The Health Benefits of Meat, Poultry, and Fish
Amid of today’s popular action of giving up meat with its praised Health Benefits of Giving Up Meat  and go toward vegetarian or vegan ways, some people still believe on the health benefits of meat, poultry, and fish. This article will give your mind a refreshment about the health benefits of meat, poultry and fish, and why people still rooting on it these days.
- Improve immune system
Any forms of meat including red meat, poultry, and fish possess good amount of minerals in common. The mineral is very good in improving the immune system. One of the minerals which act as immune booster is zinc. Zinc from meat, poultry, and fish acts as antioxidants and actively fights free radicals.
This way, zinc is able to give us protection toward many chronic diseases. In addition, fish also high in selenium which is also contribute to the immune system improvements. The other beneficial element in aiding immune system is omega-3 fatty acids which are abundantly found in fish.
- Promote muscle growth
It is a common knowledge that to grow muscle, we need high protein intake. It is because protein helps during the process of building and repairing body tissues and improving muscle activity.
This is the reason why people with the intention of body building increase their protein intake by consuming meat, poultry, or chicken. They commonly prefer chicken breast as it is high with protein, yet contains almost no fat.Â
- Strengthen muscle
Not only aiding the muscle growth, protein in meat, poultry, and fish also enhance muscles’ strength. It is also contributed by the content of zinc from the three animal ingredients.
This is the reason why body builder significantly increase their intake of protein from meats. It is also recommended to have the Health Benefits of Ground Meat for more variation aside from the common whole meat form.
- Improves digestion
Our body needs amino acids to improve the digestive system. These amino acids are the beneficial values our body can’t produce by itself. We need to obtain the amino acids from meat, poultry, and fish to improve digestion.
There are nine amino acids which support our digestion we can get from meats, namely histidine, leucine, lysine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.Â
- Improves blood circulation
Meats, poultry, and fish are able to provide us with the significant amount of iron. Our body needs iron to improve the blood circulation. The improved blood circulation will ensure the distribution of oxygen all over the body to maintain body organs functioning.
- Avoid iron deficiency
We need iron not only for the blood circulation as iron holds an important role for our health. And as we know, the lack of animal sourced foods may leads to iron deficiency. Iron deficiency may cause some health problems such fatigue, weakness, lack of concentration. So, don’t forget to eat some meats to improve your performance.
- Maintain healthy heart
When we talk about which is the healthiest among meats, poultry, and fish, we may get various answers. But if we relate the health benefits of meat, poultry, and fish toward heart health, we can say that fish is the healthiest. It is because fish contains the highest level of omega-3 fatty acids among the other meats.
Omega-3 is very good to maintain and even improve the heart health by reducing the risk of heart attack, strokes, and coronary heart.
- Improve skin health
Consuming meat, poultry, and fish is beneficial for healthy skin. Fatty acids in meats, especially fish are able protecting the skin from UV rays.
The protein intake from meats helps our skin to restore the natural moisture and glow of the skin. Therefore, eating meats, poultry, and fish might not only be beneficial for your health, but also your beauty.
- Treat skin problems
Not only maintaining the natural beauty of our skin, consuming meat, poultry, and fish can also treat the skin problems such eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis. Some people think that animal protein makes the skin problem worse. But in fact, animal protein helps skin to repair the damaged cell faster than any other foods.
- Improves brain function
The content of DHA and EPA in meats, especially any kinds of fishes improves brain function very well. It is the reason why we should give children seafood as it can provide the needed brain nutrients. Sufficient intake of DHA and EPA may also improve cognitive and brain growth.
- Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
For older people, the consumption of meat, poultry, and fish may not only improving brain power, but also preventing some diseases. One of the diseases we are talking about is Alzheimer’s. Based on the research, the sufficient intake of protein and fatty acids is able to lower the risk of developing brain disorder such Alzheimer’s.
- Good for pregnancy
The consumption of meat, poultry, and fish is highly recommended for pregnant women. It is because those foods are able to fulfill the needs of protein and fatty acids during pregnancy. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to be beneficial for fetal growth.
The other health benefits of meat, poultry and fish are:
- Aid women reproduction
- Relieve stress
- Prevent premature aging
- Promote the formation of red blood cells
- Improve nervous system functioning
- Increase energy
- Control weight
- Good for hair
- Slower gray hair
- Good for nails and bones
- Prevent macular degeneration diseasesÂ
Recommended Intake of Meat, Poultry, and Fish
According to a daily diet website, people can consume meat, poultry, and fishes in the recommended amount of serving. Nutritionist recommends eating meat, poultry, and fish for no more than 6 ounces in a day for 2000 calorie a day diet. The recommended intake may vary from individual’s weight and health condition. To fulfill the recommended intake, you can take an example from these:
- 1 ounce cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish.
- 1 ounce lean sliced deli meat or cold meat. Turkey deli meat is recommended as it contains fewer calories compared to the other types of lunch meat, as attached in the health benefits of turkey lunch meat.
- 1 ounce canned tuna or salmon.
In addition, whatever is your choice between meat, poultry, and fish for your daily diet, we need to consider the preparation and the cooking process. The preparation and cooking process is important to maintain the health benefits of meat, poultry, and fish.
Since these ingredients may contains fats and cholesterol, it is better to grill them to avoid adding oil into the meat, poultry and fish. But if you can’t avoid using oil, make sure to use the healthy oil such extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil with their Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Weight Loss or Benefits of Coconut Oil for Type 2 Diabetes. And the last, don’t forget to eat the meat, poultry, or fish with vegetables to fulfill your need of fiber and other vitamins such vitamin A and vitamin C.