A daily eating plan has to decide what goes in the middle of the plate, and this one deals with meat. It works from the NHS page "Meat in your diet", which gives a daily figure for red and processed meat and lists portion weights. Dates appear at the end of meals, with portion weights taken from USDA FoodData Central (FDC).
What the NHS says about meat
The page opens by calling meat "a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet". Red meat provides iron, zinc and B vitamins, and meat is one of the main sources of vitamin B12 in the diet. Protein can also come from fish, eggs, beans and pulses, so a balanced day does not have to rest on meat alone.
The limit is on red, processed and fatty meat. Red meat, in the NHS list, means beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal, venison and goat. Processed meat is any meat preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives: sausages, bacon, ham, salami, corned beef, sliced luncheon meats (chicken and turkey ones too) and pâtés.
The 70g figure
If you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red or processed meat a day, the NHS recommends cutting down to 70g. It does not have to be exact every day. If one day goes over 90g, you can eat less on the following days so that the average stays at no more than 70g.
The portion weights on the page show how quickly a single meal reaches that line:
- a quarter-pound beefburger, 78g
- 3 thin slices of roast lamb, beef or pork, 90g
- a 5oz rump steak, 102g
- a large doner kebab, 130g
- a grilled 8oz beef steak, 163g
A slice of ham is 23g and a thin slice of corned beef is 38g, so three slices of ham come to 69g, nearly the whole 70g.
Breakfast without processed meat
A British cooked breakfast of 2 sausages and 2 thin rashers of bacon comes to 130g, which is above the 90g mark before lunch. So this plan leaves processed meat out of breakfast and uses eggs, which the NHS names as a protein source, with wholemeal toast. Add a few chopped dates on the side. The NHS 5 A Day page counts a 30g portion of dried fruit, "such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs", as 1 of your 5 A Day, and says it should be eaten at mealtimes rather than as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth.
FDC weighs one pitted Deglet Noor date at 7.1g and one pitted Medjool at 24g. Four Deglet Noor come to about 28g, close to the 30g portion.
Lunch: white meat, skin off
Chicken and turkey without the skin are lower in fat, the NHS says, and you can remove the skin before cooking. A grilled chicken wrap or rice with chicken and vegetables keeps red meat at zero for the middle of the day. When buying pre-packed meat, the page suggests checking the nutrition label for fat and comparing products. It also gives a rule of thumb: the more white you can see on meat, the more fat it contains.
Dinner: stretch the red meat
This is where the day's red meat goes, if any. The NHS suggests using smaller amounts of meat and replacing some of it with vegetables, pulses and starchy foods in stews, curries and casseroles. A lamb or beef curry can take a tin of chickpeas and extra vegetables, so a 70g share of meat still fills the bowl. For cooking, the page advises cutting off visible fat and skin first, grilling rather than frying, and not adding extra fat or oil.
Dates can go into the pot as well. The NHS counts fruit cooked in dishes such as soups and stews towards 5 A Day, so chopped dates can go into a slow-cooked lamb stew. Or serve one Medjool after the meal.
Storing and reheating
A plan that cooks once and eats twice needs safe storage. The NHS advice is to keep raw meat in a sealed container on the bottom shelf of the fridge so it cannot drip onto other food, and to cool cooked meat as quickly as possible before refrigerating or freezing it. Reheat cooked meat only once. Frozen meat thawed in the fridge should be used within 2 days. Chicken, burgers, sausages and kebabs need cooking all the way through, until the juices run clear with no pink meat inside.
The day at a glance
- Breakfast: eggs on wholemeal toast, four Deglet Noor dates on the side.
- Lunch: grilled skinless chicken with rice and vegetables.
- Dinner: lamb and chickpea curry with about 70g of lamb per person, and one Medjool date afterwards.
For the starchy part of each meal, see our article on starchy foods and healthier swaps. Malaysia's own plate model, Pinggan Sihat, is explained in our article on healthy eating and the balanced diet. Questions about dates can go through the contact page or WhatsApp.
This article is general information on everyday eating and is not medical advice. If you have a health condition or follow a special diet, speak to a doctor or dietitian.