Is steak good for weight loss?

If you’re confused about the relationship between eating meat and weight loss, we wouldn’t blame you.

From heart smart studies to Very High Protein (VHP) fad diets to questions around the ethics of eating meat at all, meat, particularly red meat, often finds itself in the crosshairs of conversation, leading to confusion about the role it plays in a healthy diet.

On top of that, if you’ve been seeking advice or reading articles on losing weight, you’ve likely seen some conflicting information about the role steak and other sources of protein play when it comes to that number on the scales.

So, before you take the next step on your weight loss journey, let's explore what’s at stake when it comes to steak — how much of it do you (or don’t you) need, how will eating it (or not eating it) impact your health, and, of course, answer the age-old question: is steak good for weight loss?  

Nutritional facts of steak

When it comes to a balanced diet, The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends eating across 5 primary food groups. These are [1]:

• Vegetables and legumes/beans
• Fruit
• Grain (cereal) foods, mostly whole grains and/or high cereal fibre varieties
• Lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, and seeds
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives

Steak falls under the fourth food group — lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds — and a serve is considered to be 65g cooked (90-100g raw) of either beef, lamb, veal, pork, goat or kangaroo.

This equates to approximately 500-600kJs and includes nutrients such as protein, zinc, iron, and vitamin b12 [1].

The health benefits of eating steak

To understand the health benefits of eating steak is to understand the vital role that protein plays in your body. Put simply, your body uses protein to build and repair muscles and bones, as well as to make hormones and enzymes.

Proteins are made up of chemical building blocks called amino acids.

There are 20 different types of these amino acids that can connect to form different combinations, and of these 20, 11 can be made by your body (non-essential amino acids) and 9 can't (essential amino acids), meaning you have to consume them through your diet in order for your body to function.

These essential amino acids are found in [3]:

• Lean meats such as beef, lamb, veal, pork, and kangaroo steak
• Poultry such as chicken, turkey, duck, emu, goose or bush birds
• Fish and seafood
• Eggs
• Dairy products, particularly Greek yoghurt
• Nuts and nut butters
• Legumes and beans

On top of that, lean meats such as steak are also a vital source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12, which all play a role in your overall health [1].

Is steak good for weight loss?

Understanding that steak is rich in nutrients is one thing, but understanding the impact it may have on your body weight is another entirely.

Steak, along with chicken breast and lean ground beef, is often recommended as a part of high-protein diets and has been touted as a means to build muscle mass and encourage fat loss for a number of years, but is it true? And how much meat does that mean you can and should eat?

In short, the answer is that many studies have found that it probably is true.

Paired with exercise, consuming lean cuts of beef and other red meat has been found to impact significant weight loss as well as improve body composition and cardiometabolic health.

That said, these studies found that high-protein diets that included no red meat had practically the same result, meaning the lean beef itself was less of a factor than the nature of the diet being high in any high-quality protein [2].

Studies have also indicated that a higher protein diet can help you retain lean mass and specifically lose fat mass.

This makes it a particularly good diet for older adults who may be struggling with weight gain but are discouraged from losing weight due to concerns of frailty, disability, and loss of independence related to skeletal muscle loss [2].

Does steak help burn belly fat?

While studies have shown that a high-protein diet can help you to lose fat as opposed to lean mass, it's a healthy diet combined with exercise that will see you get the best results. After all, it's rare that diet adjustments alone can help you really target areas you want to tighten up or slim down.

The process of body recomposition is one that happens through targeted exercise, particularly weight training and moderate-intensity cardio work.

High-protein diets in this case can help with that, as protein is vital for muscle repair and can even act as a source of energy during workouts.  

What's the best and worst type of steak for weight loss?

When it comes to working out the best and worst types of steak for weight loss, you're looking at two questions: first, what is the best source of protein and second, what is the best cut for limiting fat and cholesterol content?

Protein foods

When it comes to sources of protein-rich meat in high-protein diets in Australia, we're usually talking about 1 of 4 types of meat:

• Chicken breast
• Beef steak
• Kangaroo steak
• Lean pork tenderloin

All of these meats are high in protein and rich in iron but vary drastically when it comes to levels of fat, particularly saturated fat.

From a nutritionist perspective, kangaroo steaks are often recommended, being not just the lowest in fat and cholesterol content, but possessing more iron, twice as much vitamin B12, as well as higher levels of most other B vitamins than any other source of protein [4].

Cuts of meat

While kangaroo might be the best type of steak for weight loss, that doesn't mean eating beef steak is the worst for it, or even that it'll necessarily cause any weight gain.

There's a large range of cuts of beef that can have different fat contents and, as a result, can vastly differ in terms of calorie intake.

The leanest cuts of beef are:

• Round roast or round steak
• Top loin
• Top sirloin steak
• Chuck shoulder
• Arm roast

You can also purchase lean or heart-smart ground beef from many grocery stores and butchers [5].

Can you eat steak every day?

Lean cuts of red meat are nutrient-dense foods that provide your body with what it needs to function; however, having too much can negatively impact your health.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest no more than 100-120g of red meat per day (in other words, a single serve at most), but says you can still build up your protein intake for a high-protein diet with other foods rich in the nutrient such as nuts, seeds, and legumes [1].

Chicken vs steak: Which one is better for weight loss?

If you're looking to lose weight, research indicates that chicken is likely the better way to go.

While it's minimally higher in protein than your beef steak, it contains around half the amount of fat, giving it fewer calories and offering you potentially more sustainable weight management across your weight loss journey.

Weight loss-friendly ways to eat steak

Maintaining a diet rich in nutrient-dense food is one thing, but cooking methods can also play a role in not just getting the most out of your meal, but in reducing fat content and promoting good overall health and weight loss or maintenance.

Some ways to ensure you're maintaining a balanced diet and eating steak in a weight loss-friendly way include:

• Buy lean cuts of meat, eat smaller portions, and eat them alongside a variety of vegetables and legumes.
• Minimise the amount of oil you use to cook. You can do this by using a non-stick fry pan or wok, and by measuring the oil you pour with a spoon measure (it should be one teaspoon per serve).
• Where you can, try to roast instead of fry.
• When cooking casseroles, curries or stews, trim off the visible fat and take the skin off poultry, add lots of vegetables and legumes, and skim off any fat that rises to the surface.
• Use unsaturated margarine or nut butter instead of butter, and use a variety of oils to mix up the flavours — such as canola, sunflower, sesame, peanut, and olive oil.

Don't forget that smoked, salted and processed meat such as ham, bacon, and salami are generally higher in saturated fat and salt, and contain chemical properties that could be responsible for increased health risks.

As a result, these types of meat are not considered a part of the protein food group and the consumption of them should be limited [1].

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