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Red Oak Farm
3040 Big Buck Road
Trezevant, TN 38258
owners@redoakfarm.com
Copyright © 1998 -2008
All Rights Reserved
Red Oak Farm
Revised: almost weekly
A HEALTHY RED MEAT
by Myra Charleston
It may seem odd to hear of a red meat being touted as a
health food, but Emu farmers are doing exactly that, and with good cause. Emu meat is high in protein, monounsaturated fats, iron, B12, zinc and low overall in fat and cholesterol. For those of you who have just started learning about cholesterol and fat, here is a simple breakdown:CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is produced by the liver. If you have a liver, you will have cholesterol. There is no such thing as good and bad cholesterol, but there are good and bad cholesterol carriers.
The bad one is LDL (low density lipoprotein) and the good one is HDL (high density lipoprotein). Both carry cholesterol around in your body. The LDL deposits it in your blood vessels, the HDL pulls it out of your blood and gets it out of your system. LDL causes heart disease, HDL fights heart disease.
The more HDL you have, the better. The problem is that it is very hard to raise the HDL level in your body. And if you lower it, you increase your chance for heart disease.
FAT
Ok, lets talk about fat. Saturated fat is bad. It raises LDL and
lowers HDL, exactly the opposite of what you want.Monounsaturated fat lowers the LDL and has no effect on HDL. Emu is high in monounsaturated fat. Beef, the biggest competitor of emu meat (and any other meat), is high in saturated fat.
So, how do you cook this lean red meat that 's so good for you?
Adapt your favorite beef recipe. Keep in mind that the meat is extremely lean and cooks quicker than beef. There will be no pan drippings. It also absorbs flavors much quicker. If you use a marinade, you will find that half an hour to two hours is enough. Anything longer and the meat may have an aftertaste.
When cooking emu, less is more.