If you must eat deli meats, make sure you have natural meats with no nitrates in them. It is important for your health! Hormel offers a Natural Choice Deli Turkey which fits the bill.

The Hormel meats are found in your normal store fridge area with the cheese and other meats like bologna. The outside box is cardboard which can be nicely recycled and the inner plastic container has a zip lock so you can open and reseal it.

The meat has no nitrates, no MSG, no added hormones, and is gluten free. There are no saturated fats, no trans fats, and you get a full 10g of protein per serving (3 slices).

Processed meats are notorious for their salt content (it is how they can last on a shelf) - so this isn't bad in comparison with only 490mg of sodium. Yes you shouldn't eat this all day long, but that's true for most things in life. There are also 50 calories per serving.

Certainly vegetarians want to find their protein in alternative formats, but for most of us who do eat meat, it's important to find healthy, natural ways to get our protein. Turkey is one of the ideal meats to eat for many reasons. It's naturally lean, you get more meat per bird so raising the animals is more efficient, and it's tasty.

You can do a turkey wrap in a lettuce leaf, or you can get high fiber bread or whole wheat wraps to create your turkey lunch or dinner. There are a variety of ways to eat your turkey meat meal that are healthy and tasty. Use mayo or mustard. Add in cheese, pickles, olives, tomatoes, and other fresh veggies. Cut the turkey into tiny pieces and sprinkle it over your salad. Add pieces into your soup. Make an omelet involving turkey bits!

Is there a downside? I suppose you could say turkey being a fresh meat, doesn't last forever. So you do have to plan ahead at least a little and know you'll eat the turkey before it goes bad. Still, it lasts for a few weeks, so that's a good habit to get into. Go shopping each week, get food for that week, and enjoy your fresh food in a timely fashion.


Lisa Shea's Library of Low Carb Books