Lean meats might sound like a contradiction in terms. Depending on what you choose and how carefully you read the nutrition labels, you can find good cuts of lean meat for inclusion in your diet. Whether you're just watching your waistline or cutting back on saturated fats for medical reasons, lean meat is a vital part of your dietary intake.
Poultry
Look for skinless chicken, cut into parts. The skin contains fat you don't need in your diet, so if you buy chicken with the skin, remove the skin after cooking. Buy turkey, either whole or ground, for your meals. Skinless turkey, turkey cutlets and chicken are the leanest cuts of poultry you can choose for your dietary needs, writes the My Pyramid website.
Don't restrict yourself to just chicken and turkey--buy some cornish game hens for an additional lean meat choice, recommends the American Diabetes Association.
Prepare your poultry by trimming the fat from the bird. Use a low-fat marinade for tenderizing and flavor and cook it using low-fat cooking methods, such as grilling, roasting, baking, sauteeing and baking, suggests MayoClinic.com.
Fish
Stock up on these varieties of fish from the seafood counter: flounder, cod, haddock, catfish, orange roughy, herring, tuna, trout, salmon, sardines and tilapia.
For a wider selection of seafood, you can buy crab, imitation shellfish, clams, scallops, lobster, oysters and shrimp.
Season your fish with herbs or spices such as lemon pepper or garlic. Bake or grill until it flakes with a fork.
Beef, Pork and Lamb
Choose "select" or "choice" rather than "prime" cuts of beef. Make sure the butcher has trimmed visible fat before you buy it. Lean red meats include round, cubed, sirloin, rib, chuck, rump roast, porterhouse, flank, tenderloin and T-bone steaks. Another lean beef is beef jerky.
Lean pork includes the center loin chop, tenderloin, ham and Canadian bacon, according to the American Diabetic Association.
Lean cuts of lamb include leg of lamb, lamb chop and lamb roast.
Prepare these meats by trimming the fat, marinading and tenderizing the meat and using a low-fat cooking method such as roasting, grilling or broiling, according to MayoClinic.com.
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