A cut above: Fish and poultry
Poultry and fish are considered the best meats you can load your diet with, Laster said. Fish is lauded for its omega-3 fatty acids, which can protect against cardiovascular disease. Fish is also rich in vitamin D, selenium and protein.
“A healthy diet would entail a great diversity of fish consumption, rather than the same fish every day, along with fish that is wild-caught rather than farmed,” Laster said. Because there’s some risk of ingesting “mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, microplastic due to our polluted water supply,” try to avoid species such as swordfish or king mackerel and opt for cod or salmon instead.
Poultry, such as chicken and turkey, is also great protein source, low in calories and saturated fat. Keri Gans, registered dietitian and author of “The Small Change Diet,” used to recommend light meat over dark, but the fat difference is actually quite minimal. “Eat what you enjoy” is her new advice. “That said, breast meat is typically leaner than thigh, and you should always look at how it’s prepared.” Chicken wings loaded in sauce are not the best option. Gans recommends baking and grilling, and a skinless, boneless cut of poultry to keep each serving the healthiest.
You might need fish and poultry even less than you think. (Research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that even white meat consumption can increase cholesterol.) Though the American Heart Association recommends two to three servings of fish a week and eight to nine servings of superlean protein, Laster says consuming just two to four servings a month of fish and two to four servings per month of poultry can provide benefits, according to research.
“There is data to suggest a very low quantity of meat in general for healthier disease-free living, around two to four servings per month,” Laster said. “But if poultry is consumed, it should be of the best farming practices, with free range, no antibiotics or hormones, and livestock being provided with proper food, along with uncontaminated slaughtering practices.”