Beef Jerky That’s Not Bad For You?
by Shereen Jegtvig
Processed meats are generally bad for your health because of the preservatives and flavor enhancers added during processing. Typical beef jerky is loaded with sodium that may be bad for your blood pressure and something called nitrites that have been linked to an increased risk of cancers. Most brands of beef jerky contain ingredients you wouldn’t expect in a meat product like cereals, dairy, soy or corn – a problem if you are sensitive to any of these foods.
Could beef jerky be good for you if you didn’t add the extra ingredients? A serving of beef jerky offers plenty of protein and iron, which are important for good health, but you’d still have some saturated fat to consider. Beef contains saturated fat that raises your cholesterol levels and increases inflammation in your arteries when you eat too much of it. So I wouldn’t say that beef jerky could ever be really good for you, but it would be nice to find a brand of beef jerky that isn’t bad for your health.
I used the FoodEssentials tool see if there is any beef jerky that fits the bill. I sorted the results by presence of flavor enhancers:
I was pleasantly surprised to find three varieties of beef jerky sold by Organic Prairie that are free of flavor enhancers. A look at any of the individual varieties (Organic Prairie, Prairie Classic Mild) also shows organic ingredients, beef from humanely raised cattle, no nitrites, and less saturated fat than other brands and all natural ingredients. Organic Prairie beef jerky is also lower in sodium (but not low in sodium – there’s still a lot per serving). All in all, I think this brand of beef jerky could be included in a healthy diet as long as you watch your serving size. As for the rest of the brands of beef jerky on our FoodEssentials list? I probably wouldn’t eat any of them.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Lower Cholesterol Through Diet
- Mexican Foods – Ready To Go
- Research: Orange Juice – What people are looking for
- Choosing Canned Meat
- The Goodness of Grapes
