Beef's Nutrition
No matter what your wellness looks like, beef provides the nutrition you need and the balance you crave. Incorporating beef's 10 essential nutrients - like protein, iron and zinc, as part of a balanced plate helps you stay fueled and energized throughout the journey. So, grab a plate and discover how beef is a delicious, nutritious powerhouse!
Lean Beef
A 3 oz. cooked serving of lean beef provides 10 essential nutrients in around 170 calories, less than 10 grams of total fat and less than 95 mg of cholesterol.
Beef Cuts Nutrition
All beef cuts contain 10 essential nutrients including protein, zinc, iron and many B vitamins, but cuts can vary slightly in their nutrient content depending on their location on the carcass. See the nutritional profile of some of the classic and up-and-coming beef cuts.
Beef Nutrition FAQ
We all know beef tastes great – but did you know that beef can be good for you, too? Check out some answers to your most pressing questions when it comes to incorporating beef into a balanced lifestyle.
Nutrition Article Highlights
Explore the latest insights on beef and nutrition, backed by science and designed for real life. This collection of articles highlights how beef can fit into balanced eating patterns while delivering key nutrients to support overall health.
Beef's Nutrients
When it comes to beef and your health, you can rest easy knowing beef contains important nutrients. In just one 3 oz. cooked serving, you’re getting 10 essential nutrients including protein, zinc, iron and B vitamins.
Beef and Heart Health
Research on heart health shows that eating lean beef can be a solution to one of America’s greatest health challenges. Not only can lean beef be part of a heart-healthy diet, but it can help lower cholesterol as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Balance with Beef
When most people think about wellness, they often picture intense workouts or superfood-packed salads. But the truth is, wellness is so much more than that. It’s about balance.
Beef WISE Study
The Beef WISE study found that higher-protein weight loss diets, including lean beef, helps achieve important health goals. The study adds to the growing evidence showing lean beef can contribute to a healthy weight loss diet.
Recipe Collections to up your Wellness Game
Discover a collection of flavorful recipes designed to fit a variety of balanced eating styles. From heart-conscious meals to Mediterranean-inspired dishes and everyday favorites, these recipes make it easy to enjoy beef as part of a well-rounded plate.
Balanced Beef Meals
Recipes that tastefully combine a variety of food groups to achieve the perfect balance of taste, nutrition and simplicity with your favorite beef cuts.
Heart-Healthy Recipes
Enjoying lean beef in a heart-healthy lifestyle is easier than you think with these recipes featuring lean beef, fresh fruit and vegetables, and grains.
Protein for Strength
It’s not only important to just get protein in at dinner or lunch, but to spread it throughout your day. These recipes make it easy!
Mediterranean Diet
Incorporating lean red meat into a Mediterranean-style eating pattern can help support heart health. These delicious Mediterranean Diet inspired recipes include plenty of lean meat, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Recipes for Different Diet Trends
When it comes to choosing an eating style that works for you, there are many choices. Most healthy diets have a lot in common: they incorporate a variety of nutrient-rich foods, emphasize high-quality protein sources, encourage plenty of vegetables and fruit, and are balanced with fiber-rich, quality carbohydrates. Beef plays an essential role in many healthy diets as an authentic high-quality protein with ten essential nutrients, like iron, zinc and B-vitamins.
Get Your Strength from Beef
Beef is an excellent source of protein and supplies 10 essential nutrients including B-vitamins, zinc, and iron that support an active and healthy lifestyle. The nutrients in beef provide our bodies with the strength to thrive throughout all stages of life. Learn more about beef’s nutrients below.
The Power of Beef's Protein
If there was a protein contest, beef would surely be crowned the king! Among the powerful package of 10 essential nutrients beef is known for, protein may be one of the most notable. In fact, one 3 oz cooked serving of beef provides 50% of your Daily Value (25 grams) of this important nutrient – making it an excellent source!
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Beef and Strength
The essential nutrients found in beef, like protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins, provide our bodies and minds with the fuel we need at all stages of life to be the strongest version of ourselves. Learn more about how beef's nutrients, along with a healthy lifestyle, work to help build muscle and mental strength.
Kentucky Team Beef
Kentucky Team Beef members understand and believe in the nutritional benefits of lean beef and the vital role it plays in training, and they share their love of beef with family and friends.
Back to School with Sports Nutrition Booklet
For Athletes, Coaches, and Parents
Sports nutrition tips to ensure athletes are setup for success in the classroom and on the field. Be prepared for back to school with these sports nutrition tips to fuel optimal performance.
Fuel for Life with Beef
Support every stage of life with practical, evidence-based guidance on how beef can fit into balanced eating patterns. From first foods to fueling growing teens and navigating adult health needs, these resources highlight beef’s role in delivering key nutrients when they matter most.
Nutrition Through the Lifecycle
Humans generally require the same nutrients throughout life, from infancy to adulthood. The amounts of certain nutrients vary depending on the stage of life but eating beef can help meet these different nutritional needs.
Beef for Tweens & Teens
The tween and teen years are a time of transformational change and increasing independence, and adolescents’ nutrient needs set the stage for optimal health and reduced chronic disease risk during adulthood.
Improved Diabetes in Adults
New evidence recently published on obesity adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of higher protein diets, including their impact on supporting weight loss and improving T2D status.
Beef as a Nutrition Ally
With beef, every bite counts. Ensuring you get enough high-quality protein and essential nutrients to help protect against muscle loss, support bone health, and prevent nutrient deficiencies is key when you are on a weight loss journey, especially one supported by medication.
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Strength: The Field Manual
A go-to action plan for building strength through good nutrition, physical activity, recovery, and rest. This resource will walk you through the why and how to take action with your nutrition and fitness to develop the strength to be your best.
Resources for Health Professionals
Access trusted, evidence-based resources designed to support health professionals in their nutrition education efforts. From ready-to-use tools and infographics to professional programs and curated updates, this hub makes it easy to stay informed and confidently communicate the role of beef in a balanced diet.
Nutrition Infographic Library
Explore our library of educational fact sheets and infographics to share evidence-based nutrition information about beef with your audiences. These checkoff-funded resources help communicate beef’s story from pasture to plate, covering topics such as beef’s nutritional profile, selecting cuts at the meat case, and understanding the beef lifecycle.
Beef Aficionados
Calling all credentialed health and nutrition professionals! The Beef Aficionados is an online community of nutrition experts who support the role of beef in healthy eating patterns that was created to connect, empower, and amplify your work to optimize nutrition for all. As a Beef Aficionado, you’ll have exclusive opportunities to engage with Beef experts, early access to nutrition research and resources, and inspiration for showcasing beef’s role in a healthy lifestyle. Apply today and join this growing network!
Beef Nutrition Education Hub
The Beef Nutrition Education Hub, managed by a team of nutrition scientists and registered dietitians, is an education portal tailored to support the needs of the health and nutrition community. Create an account, access on-demand courses and earn complimentary continuing professional education credits approved by the Commission on Dietetic Registration.
Nutrition Seminar Program
The Nutrition Seminar Program, funded by the Beef Checkoff, works in collaboration with State Beef Councils to provide influential, credentialed health and nutrition experts to speak on cutting-edge issues at State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics meetings, as well as other state-wide meetings and conferences whose audiences include credentialed health professionals. A wide range of topics and speakers are available and can be tailored to meet each state's needs.
Health Professional Newsletter
Sign up for our monthly health professional newsletter written by a Registered Dietitian to stay up to date on the most current research and resources to share with patients and clients.
For additional resources please contact Allison Cook, MS, RD, LDN, CLC, Southeast Regional Director of Nutrition.
From Lunchboxes to Dinner Plates: Balanced Meals Kids Will Love
Originally created for time at home, this resource has been refreshed to fit today’s busy routines - whether it’s back-to-school or summer break. These balanced, kid-friendly meal ideas make it easy to plan nourishing lunches and dinners that keep kids fueled, satisfied, and ready for whatever the day brings.