Protein is extremely important in our diet but it is important to remember that although a thick, juicy steak with lots of crispy fat can be very tasty it is also very high in fat.  Always trim the fat off any meat so that you get all the benefits and none of the unhealthy side effects. You may decided to have a lighter meal at lunchtime and eat dinner in the evening although watch how many carbohydrates you have later at night unless you are planning to go out and dance the night away to use them up. 

We are going to move onto lunch now and take a look at Turkey as a Superfood.

There are many cuts available now in the stores. You don’t have to buy a whole turkey – you can get fillets of breast – legs – sausages – burgers and ham.

Turkey is first and foremost a lean source of protein – 4oz gives you 65% of your daily protein requirement and has about half the amount of saturated fat that red meat does.

We are protein – we need it to repair ourselves – a bit like the bionic man we take animal and vegetable protein, add some amino acids and rearrange the nitrogen from the mix to repair or make parts of our body. Don’t forget we are meat – and a savoury delicacy in certain parts of the world in the past. Turkey is high in methionine, which is an essential amino acid that ensures that any protein that we eat is completely used. This makes sure that we get the maximum benefit from the turkey that we eat. This is particularly important if we find it difficult to digest food as we get older.

Turkey contains plenty of the amino acid tryptophan that we already covered - so it stimulates the B3 vitamin niacin into producing serotonin the neurotransmitter than not only has a calming effect and helps depression but also helps us sleep and feel good. Niacin too is involved in cell health because DNA requires Niacin to be healthy and a deficiency of this B- vitamin and the other B’s like 6 and 12 have been linked to DNA damage that leads to Cancer.

It has high levels of Selenium which is a trace mineral. Selenium is fundamental to our general health. It is involved in thyroid hormone metabolism – antioxidant defence systems and our immune system health - many studies into this mineral are revealing its positive effect on cancers. Part of this is the ability of selenium to encourage the DNA in our cells to repair itself and for cancer cells to self-destruct. We said that Green Tea had this effect to because of the particular antioxidant present so I hope that you can now see how important these antioxidants really are in preventing disease and supporting you when you are trying to fight them.

We covered the benefits of Niacin but another B vitamin present in high quantities is B6 – B6 is essential for the body to help it process carbohydrates – sugars and starch. When this process is inefficient, certain types of molecules that would normally change into useful and active molecules is prevented. One of these molecules is called homocysteine and when levels of this are allowed to rise and accumulate, they can damage the blood vessel walls leading to cardiovascular disease – Turkey supplies over a ¼ of the necessary B6 per day in a 4 oz serving.

Turkey is richer in calcium than any other meat and has over twice the calcium than chicken or beef.

Turkey is also high in phosphorus, which is a fundamental need for bone and teeth formation and the production of red blood cells. Phosphorus is also part of the chemical energy store in each cell and in DNA so is vital for cell health. One of the things to watch for however with phosphorus is that it you eat a great many processed foods you will find that they are far too high in the mineral and can cause an imbalance with other minerals.

So Turkey is low fat, ½ in fact than even chicken, low in cholesterol, sodium and calories. Finally it is also called a short fibre meat which means that it is very easily digestible for any age group.

Next time we will be looking at another carbohydrate that it is important to include in your eating plan as well as some more snack and main meal options.

For more information on nutrients and superfoods visit www.justfoodforhealth.com and if you have any questions that you would like included in the Health and Vitality mailbag send them in strict confidence to sally@moyhill.com