– Meat & Beans Group

The purple part of MyPyramid informs you about Meat and Bean products.

Image: U.S Department of Agriculture

MyPyramid recommends that you should choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry. You can bake it, broil it or grill it. You should vary your choices with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.

What’s a part of the Meat and Beans group?

Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans or peas, eggs, nuts, and seeds are all part of the Meat and Beans group. Dry beans and peas are part of this group as well as the vegetable group.

Examples of products from the Meat and Beans group:

• Meats: lean cuts of beef, ham, lamb, pork, veal
• Game meats: bison, rabbit, venison
• Lean ground meats: beef, pork, lamb
• Lean luncheon meats: organ meats like liver, giblets
• Poultry: chicken, duck, goose, turkey, ground chicken and turkey
• Eggs: chicken eggs, duck eggs
• Dry beans and peas: black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, falafel, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soy beans, split peas, white beans
• Nuts & seeds: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
• Fish: catfish, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, Pollock, porgy, salmon, sea bass, snapper, swordfish, trout, tuna
• Shellfish: clams, crab, crayfish, lobster, mussels, octopus, oysters, scallops, squid, shrimp
• Canned fish: anchovies, clams, tuna, sardines

What counts as an ounce?

Most Americans eat enough food from this food group, but need to make leaner and more varied selections of these foods. An adult needs about 5-6.5 ounces equivalents. The amount you need depends on age, sex, and level of physical activity.

Find out what counts as 1 ounce equivalent from the meat and beans group:

• 1 ounce = 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish or
• 1 ounce group = ¼ cup cooked dry beans or
• 1 ounce = 1 egg or
• 1 ounce = 1 tablespoon of peanut butter or
• 1 ounce =  ½ ounce of nuts or seeds

Tips on healthy choices

Most of your meat and poultry choices should be lean or low-fat. The leanest poultry choices are boneless and skinless chicken breast and turkey. The leanest beef cuts include round steaks and roasts, top loin, top sirloin, and chuck shoulder and arm roasts.

Remove all visible fat from meat and poultry before cooking. Avoid frying your meat, poultry or fish. It’s better if you broil, grill, roast, poach or boil it instead. Drain off any fat that appears during cooking.

Replace meat and poultry with fish, nuts and seeds. Fish, nuts and seeds are healthier alternatives since they contain healthy oils.

Health benefits and implications

Foods from the Meat and Beans group provide you with vital nutrients such as protein, B vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B6), vitamin E, iron, zinc, and magnesium.

Diets that are high in saturated fats raise “bad” cholesterol levels in the blood which increases the risk for coronary heart disease. Cholesterol is only found in foods from animal sources. Fatty cuts of beef, pork, and lamb are high in saturated fat. To help keep blood cholesterol levels healthy, limit the amount of these foods you eat.

Eat more of the healthy fish, nuts, and seeds instead. They contain monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for your health.

Vegetarians

If you are a vegetarian you should focus on the protein, iron, calcium, zinc and vitamin B12. Here are examples of sources of these nutrients for vegetarians:

• Protein sources: beans, nuts, nut butters, peas, and soy products, milk products, eggs
• Iron sources: iron-fortified breakfast cereals, spinach, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, turnip greens, molasses, whole wheat breads, peas, dried apricots, prunes, raisins
• Calcium sources: calcium-fortified breakfast cereals and orange juice, soy products, collard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, mustard greens, milk products
• Zinc sources: zinc-fortified breakfast cereals, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, white beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, milk products
• Vitamin B12 sources: milk products, eggs, and foods that have been fortified with vitamin B_{12  (}breakfast cereals, soy-based beverages, veggie burgers, nutritional yeast)

MyPyramid Recommendations

MyPyramid recommends that you should choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry. You should vary your choices with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.

The amount of food from the Meat and Beans Group you need to eat depends on age, sex, and level of physical activity. An adult needs about 5-6.5 ounces equivalents. Most Americans eat enough food from this group, but need to make leaner and more varied selections of these foods.

MyPyramid Print Materials

• What’s in the Milk Group?
• How much is needed?
• What counts as a cup?
• Health benefits and nutrients
• Tips for making wise choices

Click here and learn more about MyPyramid.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, MyPyramid