What Is Corned Beef, and Is It Healthy?
Corned beef is a popular year-round deli staple. It's also synonymous with St. Patrick's Day.
No doubt it's tasty, but is corned beef a healthy meat?
This article will examine how corned beef is made and whether it's healthy or should be reserved for an occasional holiday treat.
How is corned beef made?
First, corn is not used in making corned beef. Corn refers to the large grains of rock salt used to brine brisket, the cut of beef most commonly used to make corned beef.
Brisket is tough and fatty meat from a cow's lower breast area. Thus, you must brine or marinate it to tenderize the meat and then simmer it.
Corned beef brine also contains sugar and spices like allspice, coriander, peppercorn, mustard seeds, and bay leaf, which further flavor the beef.
The brining process and slow braising of the tough brisket result in very tender and flavorful meat.
Corned beef is enjoyed in many ways, including as a breakfast hash, a Reuben deli sandwich, or the traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner.
Nutritional content
Corned beef is full of protein and fat and is a good source of many vitamins and minerals.
A 3-ounce (85-gram) cooked portion of corned beef provides:
Calories: 213
Protein: 16 grams
Fat: 16 grams
Carbs: 0 grams
Sodium: 827 mg, 36% of the Daily Value (DV)
Cholesterol: 83 mg, 28% of the DV
Selenium: 27.9 mcg, 51% of the DV
Vitamin B12: 1.4 mcg, 58% of the DV
Iron: 1.6 mg, 9% of the DV
Note that a serving of corned beef provides more than one-third of the DV for sodium. Making a low sodium version of corned beef is difficult because the brine salt helps tenderize the meat.
Most commercially prepared corned beef also contains sodium nitrite as an additive. It contributes to the sodium content but mainly functions as a preservative for processed meats.
Sodium nitrite helps maintain freshness by limiting the growth of bacteria that cause foodborne illness. When it reacts with the beef proteins, nitrite turns the meat its characteristic pink color.
Homemade corned beef that is brined with regular pickling salt instead of sodium nitrite is gray in color.
Health effects
Corned beef is an excellent source of protein, vitamin B12, and iron. Individually, these nutrients play many roles in your body, but they all collaborate to make healthy red blood cells.
It's also high in selenium, which is essential for creating thyroid hormones. Selenium is also needed for making DNA, and it functions as an antioxidant to protect it from damage.
While it may have some health benefits, corned beef is both red meat and processed meat. Processed meats have been preserved or flavored through salting, curing, fermenting, or smoking.
Some large population studies suggest diets high in red, processed meat may contribute to a higher risk of health problems and death.
A study that followed more than 81,000 people for 8 years found that eating more red meat, especially processed meat, was linked with a higher risk of death.
The high sodium in processed meat may also raise blood pressure in some people, which can contribute to a higher risk of heart disease.
Furthermore, cooked red meat is a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic amines, and nitrosamines.
These are all linked with a higher risk of cancer and are formed when meat is cured or cooked to high temperatures, such as 302–662°F (150–350°C), with greater amounts at 572°F (300°C) or higher.
In 2015, the cancer division at the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meats as a carcinogen — something likely to cause cancer in humans.
Experts looked at 10 studies and found that eating about 2 ounces (50 grams) of processed meat each day may increase your risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.
The WHO also classified red meat as a probable carcinogen, as observational studies have suggested that eating more red meat is linked with an increased risk of colorectal, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.
It's a good idea to limit the amount of processed meat you eat to just once in a while. That goes for corned beef and other processed meats like hot dogs or bacon.
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