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Beef
Nutritional Profile
Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate
Protein: High
Fat: Moderate
Saturated fat: High
Cholesterol: Moderate
Carbohydrates: None
Fiber: None
Sodium: Low
Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins
Major mineral contribution: Iron, phosphorus, zinc
Beef
as antioxidants. Once the can is open, however, the meat should be protected from oxygen
that will change the flavor of the beef.
Curing. Salt-curing preserves meat through osmosis, the physical reaction in which liquids
flow across a membrane, such as the wall of a cell, from a less dense to a more dense solution.
The salt or sugar used in curing dissolves in the liquid on the surface of the meat to make a
solution that is more dense than the liquid inside the cells of the meat. Water flows out of
the meat and out of the cells of any microorganisms living on the meat, killing the microorganisms and protecting the meat from bacterial damage. Salt-cured meat is much higher in
sodium than fresh meat.
Freezing. When you freeze beef, the water inside its cells freezes into sharp ice crystals that
can puncture cell membranes. When the beef thaws, moisture (and some of the B vitamins)
will leak out through these torn cell walls. The loss of moisture is irreversible, but some of
the vitamins can be saved by using the drippings when the meat is cooked. Freezing may
also cause freezer burndry spots left when moisture evaporates from the surface of the
meat. Waxed freezer paper is designed specifically to hold the moisture in meat; plastic wrap
and aluminum foil are less effective. NOTE: Commercially prepared beef, which is frozen
very quickly at very low temperatures, is less likely to show changes in texture.
Irradiation. Irradiation makes meat safer by exposing it to gamma rays, the kind of highenergy ionizing radiation that kills living cells, including bacteria. Irradiation does not change
the way meat looks, feels or tastes, or make the food radioactive, but it does alter the structure
of some naturally occurring chemicals in beef, breaking molecules apart to form new compounds called radiolytic products (RP). About 90 percent of RPs are also found in nonirradiated
foods. The rest, called unique radiolytic products (URP), are found only in irradiated foods.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that URPs are harmful; irradiation is an approved
technique in more than 37 countries around the world, including the United States.
Smoking. Hanging cured or salted meat over an open fire slowly dries the meat, kills microorganisms on its surface, and gives the meat a rich, smoky flavor that varies with the wood
used in the fire. Meats smoked over an open fire are exposed to carcinogenic chemicals in
the smoke, including a-benzopyrene. Meats treated with artificial smoke flavoring are not,
since the flavoring is commercially treated to remove tar and a-benzopyrene.
Beef
Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella and toxoplasmosis. Cattle treated with antibiotics may produce meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella, and all raw beef
may harbor ordinary Salmonella as well as T. gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasmosis is particularly hazardous for pregnant women. It can be passed on to the fetus
and may trigger a series of birth defects including blindness and mental retardation. Both
Salmonella and the T. gondii can be eliminated by cooking meat thoroughly and washing all
utensils, cutting boards, and counters as well as your hands with hot soapy water before
touching any other food.
Decline in kidney function. Proteins are nitrogen compounds. When metabolized, they
yield ammonia, which is excreted through the kidneys. In laboratory animals, a sustained
high-protein diet increases the flow of blood through the kidneys, accelerating the natural
age-related decline in kidney function. Some experts suggest that this may also occur in
human beings.
Food/Drug Interactions
Tetracycline antibiotics (demeclocycline [Declomycin], doxycycline [Vibtamycin], methacycline
[Rondomycin], minocycline [Minocin], oxytetracycline [Terramycin], tetracycline [Achromycin V,
Panmycin, Sumycin]). Because meat contains iron, which binds tetracyclines into compounds the body cannot absorb, it is best to avoid meat for two hours before and after taking
one of these antibiotics.
Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Meat tenderized with papaya or a papain powder
can interact with the class of antidepressant drugs known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Papain meat tenderizers work by breaking up the long chains of protein molecules.
One by-product of this process is tyramine, a substance that constructs blood vessels and
raises blood pressure. MAO inhibitors inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body
that metabolize tyramine. If you eat a food such as papain-tenderized meat, which is high
in tyramine, while you are taking a MAO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the
tyramine from your body. The result may be a hypertensive crisis.
Theophylline. Charcoal-broiled beef appears to reduce the effectiveness of theophylline
because the aromatic chemicals produced by burning fat speed up the metabolism of theophylline in the liver.