I've been reading one of my favourite books, Protein Power by Drs. Michael R. Eades, and Mary Dan Eades, I am always looking for ways to enhance the nutritional value of my meals and this trick really fills the bill. "A Trick For Reducing Arachidonic Acid In Steaks And Roasts".
Dr Eades writes about Arachidonic acid (AA) a fatty acid essential to life but also incredibly destructive in excessive amounts. AA is made in the eicosanoid synthesis pathway and is the immediate precursor of the bad eicosanoids.
If you keep your insulin down and your glucagon up, you should make very little arachidonic acid, but--and here's the curve--arachidonic acid doesn't come from just the eicosanoid pathway; it also comes in directly via the diet.
AA is found in all meats, especially red meats and organ meats, and in egg yolks.
It's not the saturated fat and cholesterol that cause most of the problems associated with these foods, it‘s their arachidonic acid content--for those who are sensitive to it.
The AA in meat is located both in the muscle and in the fat.
The quantities are higher in red meat because red meat has more fat, which, at least, in today's domestic feedlot animals, contains high levels of AA.
Does this mean you should avoid beef entirely if you're sensitive to arachidonic acid? Not at all.
Here is a effective techniques that will decrease the amount of AA you get in the beef you eat.
A Trick For Reducing Arachidonic Acid In Steaks And Roasts
You can also marinate a steak that is not only healthful but actually makes the beef taste better. Most alterations you make in foods for health reasons really take a toll on taste, but not this technique for steak. The only drawback is that it takes a little advance preparation, so it doesn't work for spur-of-the moment meals.
Trim all the visible fat from the steak, then place it in a large resealable plastic bag along with a mixture of 1 cup of red wine and 1 cup of olive oil or light sesame oil or coconut oil?
Allow the meat to marinate in this mixture in the refrigerator for a full 24 hours, flipping the bag and contents over a couple of times.
Take the steak out, drain it for an hour or so, discard the marinade, rub the beef with some pepper or other spices to taste, then grill it.
The wine acts as a solvent to leach out a fair amount of the fat in the steak, which is replaced in part by the fat in the olive oil or other oil you use. These oils permeate the steak, giving it a juicy succulent taste that you have to experience to believe--and make it more healthful to boot You can use this technique with roasts as well.
What about sautéing and frying? You now know how the trans fatty acids in margarine present the building blocks from getting into the eicosanoid production pipeline, so we want you to avoid margarine. Many polyunsaturated fats undergo a trans alteration during the high temperatures required for pan frying, so your health be best served by avoiding those. We need heat stable fat that also imparts great taste, and the substance that fits is butter.
