Beef and chicken: the same for cholesterol, far apart on iron

A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials in 406 adults free of chronic disease found LDL cholesterol fell almost equally on beef and on poultry or fish, by 8.2 against 8.9 mg/dL, with lean beef in most trials and beef industry funding noted in the field. A randomized trial in 113 adults, each eating every diet for 4 weeks, found the same thing. LDL and apoB did not differ between red meat, mostly lean beef, and white meat, chicken and turkey, and both were higher than on plant protein. Where the two meats really part is minerals. Per 100 g raw, beef tenderloin has 2.53 mg of iron and 3.23 mg of zinc in USDA samples, against 0.35 mg and 0.65 mg in skinless chicken breast. Over 3 months in 86 adolescents, ferritin held steady on a lean beef diet and fell by a median 6.8 mcg/dL on lean poultry and fish, a drop the authors judged not clinically significant. We found no trial that compares the two meats on heart attacks, diabetes or death.

How much is actually in it

• Raw beef steak carries about 6 times the iron and 5 times the zinc of raw skinless chicken breast per 3.5 oz (100 g). — USDA Foundation Foods sample sets (n = 6 to 8 samples per food) Evidence E source
  Iron 2.53 mg tenderloin, 2.22 mg top sirloin vs 0.35 mg chicken breast; zinc 3.23 and 3.45 mg vs 0.65 mg; fat 6.5 and 5.7 g vs 1.9 g

What a real portion looks like

• No trial compares beef and chicken on heart attacks, diabetes or death directly, and neither US nor EU health claim rules name either meat. — Outcome, portion and claim searches (n = 0) Evidence E source
  Corpus 0 head-to-head beef vs chicken RCT with clinical outcomes; FNDDS has the pair only inside mixed dishes; 21 CFR 101 none; EU register no authorized beef or chicken claim

What your body absorbs

• Over 3 months, adolescents on a lean beef diet kept their ferritin while those on lean poultry and fish saw a small drop. — 86 seventh and eighth graders on low-fat diets emphasizing lean beef or lean poultry and fish, 3 months (n = 86) Evidence B source
  Ferritin change median 0.7 (-6 to 8) beef vs -6.8 (-12 to 2) mcg/dL poultry and fish, drop not clinically significant
• Postmenopausal women absorbed and retained more zinc on a high-meat diet of lean beef, chicken, ham and tuna than on a low-meat diet over 7 weeks. — 14 women aged 51 to 70, three 7-week diets in random order (n = 14) Evidence B source
  Higher zinc absorption and retention on high-meat diet, lower ferritin than low-meat diets

What cooking and storage change

• In three US cohorts, grilling, broiling or roasting meat more than 15 times a month went with 28% higher type 2 diabetes risk, for both red meat and chicken. — 138 240 US adults eating meat at least twice a week, 1.74 million person-years (n = 138240) Evidence C source
  HR 1.28 (1.18 to 1.39) for >15 vs <4 times/month open-flame or high-temperature cooking
• By the USDA table, broiled chicken keeps about 65% of its vitamin B12 and 60% of folate, while broiled beef keeps 80% of B12 and 85% of folate. — USDA retention factors, Poultry and Beef groups Evidence E source
  B12 65% chicken vs 80% beef, folate 60% vs 85%, thiamin 70% vs 70%, iron 90% vs 95%

What it does to your health

• In a randomized trial of 113 adults eating each diet for 4 weeks, LDL cholesterol and apoB were the same on red meat as on white meat, and higher on both than on plant protein. — Healthy adults aged 21 to 65, BMI 20 to 35, 61 on high and 52 on low saturated fat, three 4-week protein phases (n = 113) Evidence B source
  No significant difference red vs white meat in LDL-C, apoB, small+medium LDL, total/HDL ratio; both higher than nonmeat (P < 0.0001)
• A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials with 406 people found LDL cholesterol fell about equally on beef and on poultry or fish, by 8.2 versus 8.9 mg/dL. — 406 adults free of chronic disease in 8 RCTs comparing beef with poultry and/or fish (n = 406) Evidence A source
  LDL-C -8.2 ± 4.2 vs -8.9 ± 4.4 mg/dL (P = .905), total cholesterol -8.1 vs -6.2 mg/dL (P = .630)
• A meta-analysis of 36 randomized trials with 1803 people found red meat did not change LDL cholesterol or blood pressure differently from all comparison diets combined. — 1803 participants in 36 RCTs comparing red meat with plant protein, poultry, fish, mixed animal protein, carbohydrates or usual diet (n = 1803) Evidence A source
  No significant difference in total, LDL, HDL cholesterol, apoA1, apoB or blood pressure vs all comparisons combined; vs high-quality plant protein LDL WMD +7.7 mg/dL (2.5 to 13; metric: 0.198 mmol/L, 0.065 to 0.330)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a 3-week crossover of 15 adults, a beef diet raised the calcium oxalate stone-forming index to 2.48 versus 1.67 on chicken. — 15 healthy adults, three 1-week metabolic diets with beef, chicken or fish (n = 15) Evidence B source
  Calcium oxalate saturation index 2.48 beef vs 1.67 chicken (P = 0.02); serum uric acid 6.5 beef vs 7.0 chicken mg/dl
• Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-triggered allergy to red meat, caused symptoms 1 hour or more after eating red meat in 92% of 1162 patients. — 1162 alpha-gal syndrome patients in 15 studies (n = 1162) Evidence C source
  Urticaria 63.8%, any GI symptom 69.2%, onset ≥1 h after red meat 91.8% (84.6 to 96.8)

The bottom line

Cooking method shows up in observational data for both meats. In three US cohorts of 138,240 adults, cooking meat on open flame or at high temperature more than 15 times a month went with a 28 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes than fewer than 4 times (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.39). This held for red meat and chicken separately. Cooking was self-reported, and heterocyclic amine intake was only estimated. By the USDA retention table, which dates from 1975 and gives group averages, broiling keeps about 80 percent of the vitamin B12 in beef and 65 percent in chicken, and 85 against 60 percent of the folate. In 14 women aged 51 to 70, a high-meat diet of lean beef, chicken, ham and tuna raised zinc absorption and retention over 7 weeks compared with lower-meat diets. The meats were not separated, so it does not say which one did it. USDA survey data list beef and chicken only inside mixed dishes, so we have no standard portion to show, and no US or EU health claim names either meat. Who should be careful. People prone to kidney stones: in 15 healthy adults on 1-week metabolic diets, beef pushed the calcium oxalate saturation index in urine to 2.48 against 1.67 on chicken. That is a risk marker, and the authors advise stone formers to limit all animal protein. People with alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy triggered by tick bites, get delayed allergic or gut symptoms after eating red meat. We have no cards on pregnancy, children or medicines for either meat.

Sources

1. bfch-r1-09 · USDA Foundation Foods, dataset
   Beef, tenderloin steak, raw: Iron 2.53 mg (2.12-2.82); Zinc 3.225 mg (2.71-3.72); Total lipid 6.456 g. Beef, top sirloin steak, raw: Iron 2.224 mg; Zinc 3.453 mg; Total lipid 5.708 g. Chicken, breast, boneless, skinless, raw: Iron 0.3543 mg (0.304-0.413); Zinc 0.6545 mg (0.555-0.796); Total lipid 1.934 g (8 samples)
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30 (6 to 8 samples per food) · checked 2026-10-02
2. bfch-r1-11 · search record
   entity_brief.py beef | chicken: FNDDS — no record is this entity; 21 CFR — no mention; EU register — no claim by name; corpus — no head-to-head beef vs chicken trial with clinical outcomes
   Bioma corpus and dataset search (PubMed corpus, FNDDS, 21 CFR 101, EU register snapshot 2026-09-21) and web search, 2026-10-02 · checked 2026-10-02
3. bfch-r1-04 · randomized controlled trial
   Although serum ferritin level change between baseline and intervention was significantly different between the lean beef and lean poultry and fish groups (median [interquartile range] 0.7 [-6, 8] and -6.8 [-12, 2] microg/dL, respectively), the drop in the lean poultry and fish group was not clinically significant.
   J Am Diet Assoc, 2004 · checked 2026-10-02
4. bfch-r1-06 · randomized crossover metabolic study
   Compared with the other diets, the HM diet increased zinc absorption and retention, and slightly increased urinary zinc.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 1995 · checked 2026-10-02
5. bfch-r1-07 · prospective cohorts
   When comparing open-flame and/or high-temperature cooking >15 times/month with <4 times/month, the pooled hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) of T2D was 1.28 (1.18, 1.39; Ptrend <0.001). ... These associations remained significant when red meat and chicken were examined separately.
   Diabetes Care, 2018 · checked 2026-10-02
6. bfch-r1-10 · USDA R6, dataset
   CHICKEN,BROILED (Retn_Code 801): folate 60%; vitamin_b12 65%; thiamin 70%; iron 90%. BEEF,BROILED CUT (Retn_Code 602): vitamin_b12 80%; folate 85%; thiamin 70%; iron 95%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007), codes 801 Chicken, broiled and 602 Beef, broiled cut · checked 2026-10-02
7. bfch-r1-01 · randomized controlled trial
   LDL cholesterol and apoB were higher with red and white meat than with nonmeat, independent of SFA content (P < 0.0001 for all, except apoB: red meat compared with nonmeat [P = 0.0004]). ... Primary outcomes did not differ significantly between red and white meat.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-10-02
8. bfch-r1-02 · meta-analysis of randomized trials
   A total of 124 RCTs were identified, and 8 studies involving 406 subjects met the prespecified entry criteria and were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Relative to the baseline diet, mean ± standard error changes (in mg/dL) after beef versus poultry/fish consumption, respectively, were -8.1 ± 2.8 vs. -6.2 ± 3.1 for total cholesterol (P = .630), -8.2 ± 4.2 vs. -8.9 ± 4.4 for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = .905)
   J Clin Lipidol, 2012 · checked 2026-10-02
9. bfch-r1-03 · meta-analysis of randomized trials
   Thirty-six studies totaling 1803 participants were included. There were no significant differences between red meat and all comparison diets combined for changes in blood concentrations of total, low-density lipoprotein, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoproteins A1 and B, or blood pressure.
   Circulation, 2019 · checked 2026-10-02
10. bfch-r1-05 · randomized crossover trial
    Mean saturation index for calcium oxalate was highest for beef (2.48), although the difference attained significance only compared to chicken (1.67, p = 0.02) but not to fish (1.79, p = 0.08).
    J Urol, 2014 · checked 2026-10-02
11. bfch-r1-08 · meta-analysis of observational studies
    Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to galactose-α-1,3-galactose, triggered by tick bites. It typically presents with delayed onset allergic or gastrointestinal symptoms after red meat consumption.
    Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2026 · checked 2026-10-02