Wild game may contain high levels of lead

Q: I used to eat red meat four or five times a week, but I've managed to cut back. This fall, I had a successful elk hunt, but now I don't want to eat any steaks, chops or roasts, because in my mind it is "red" meat. Yet I have heard that elk is much healthier for me than beef. How much can I eat without raising my heart health risk? — Patti, Phoenix

A: Technically, game meat is "red," but it has some health advantages that domestic steak-on-the-hoof doesn't have, particularly if it's wild. For one thing, wild game gets more exercise, what with all that migrating and predator-avoiding, so it contains less fat. And, like grass-fed beef, wild game meat tends to have more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids (that's the good stuff found in fatty fish).

Add to that the fact that you're more likely to trim off what fat there is, since it can give an elk steak an "off" taste, and it does look pretty good. But elk and other big game is still a source of saturated fat. A 3-ounce elk tenderloin steak contains about 162 calories and about 4 grams of fat, about 1 gram of which is saturated. Even if you trim the fat off that much beef tenderloin steak, it delivers more than 200 calories and nearly 10 grams of fat (4 of which are saturated). So elk is not a health disaster, but eat it sparingly. Another reason to keep consumption low: Studies have found high levels of lead (from lead-based ammo) in wild game — enough to raise blood levels in humans who eat it by as much as 50 percent.

Q: I have rheumatoid arthritis and am taking fish-oil supplements to fight inflammation. How much is enough, and how fattening is it to do this? — Anonymous

A: Smart move. Fish oil or DHA from algae (where the fish get their omega-3s from) is a potent anti-inflammatory, particularly in large doses. You'll need at least 3 grams of fish oil a day to ease the joint pain and swelling from rheumatoid arthritis (check with your doc before taking that much). Reducing your intake of omega-6 fatty acids — the kind found in vegetable oils, margarines and all the processed junk foods in the supermarket — also can help you kick the NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) habit.

One gram of any fat is 9 calories, so the 27 calories in 3 grams of fish oil won't add much to your total daily calorie count. In fact, at least one study found that people who took as much as 6 grams of fish oil a day and walked or ran 45 minutes three times a week lost more weight than those who consumed a similar amount of an omega-6 oil and exercised just as long.