Hey Laura,
Good question, something I had to think about before I posted off the top of my mind (which after getting up too early this morning, is a little sluggish) Anyway the best answer to this is Yes, and No.....Ok, let me explain, If the ground turkey consists of mostly dark meat and includes the skin (yuk) then it is possible to have some really greasy ground turkey.....but and here's where it gets a little tricky and many good RD's or nutritionists will put up a good debate, I would still go for the turkey vs the lean ground beef for these reasons
- The protein content in the bird is easier to digest, takes less vitamins and minerals to metabolize and contains higher amounts of tryptophan the precursor to serotonin and less sulfur (easier on acid balance in the body)
- The fat profile is also less saturated and may contain less (residual growth hormones or antibiotics from feed additives, pesticides in non-organic beef) not to mention the latest scare of mad cow..OK I'm being a little more paranoid. Turkeys don't live as long to accumulate the kinds of fat soluble problems as in the time it takes to produce a cow.
But if you do buy ground beef, stick to lean organic or grass feed if you can afford it. And one last note, woman with gluten intolerance may have a more difficult time digesting the protein in beef due to reduced protease (enzymes that break down protein)available inside the GI tract. This is only a problem with eating too much meat protein.
Meat protein in 3-4oz at a time is the suggested portion size.
From Cooking light:
Ground Beef vs. Ground Turkey: Your first instinct may be to choose ground turkey rather than ground round. But unless it's made only from breast meat, ground turkey isn't the low-fat option you might think it is. In fact, the calorie and fat amounts in ground round and regular ground turkey are surprisingly close, with the beef at 218 calories and 13 fat grams and the turkey at 200 calories and 11 fat grams. To save calories, go for ground turkey breast, which knocks calories down to 161 and slashes the fat almost in half.
Ground Round (3 ounces, pan-browned)
218 calories
13 grams fat
77 milligrams cholesterol
Ground Turkey Breast (3 ounces, roasted, boneless)
161 calories
6 grams fat
63 milligrams cholesterol
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