Cutting Back on Meat? What to Know

You've heard us say it more times than a weatherman in Seattle says "rain": One of the healthiest things you can do for yourself is get red meat off your plate -- and out of your salad or soup bowl. That's because it's loaded with stuff, including saturated fat -- the type that increases inflammation in your arteries and promotes plaque buildup. That's not all; this fat turns on the mechanism that allows more lousy LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream, which is yet another way to slap more plaque into your arteries. Yes, it gets ugly.

So we applaud you for nixing the red meat from your diet. But here's where it gets tricky: You need to be really smart about what you put in its place. Replacing it with a mountain of pasta can be tough on your body, too. Two things wrong with the replacement player: (1) the mountain -- too much of any food equals too much "waist" on you; and (2) the food choice -- refined white pasta can boost blood sugar. High blood sugar levels nick your arteries, promoting the heart disease you want to avoid.

What to put on your plate instead: Feature lean protein, nuts, and only 100% whole grains. Think chicken with tomatoes, olives, and herbed white beans, or the most succulent salmon you've ever eaten over spinach and quinoa. And you'll never know the meat or the pasta mountain is missing -- except maybe when you start feeling younger and better (and even friskier). Yes, it is possible.