Disclaimer: If you’re a vegetarian, you might want to skip this post!

Okay, so we all know that red meat is not especially healthy for us. The saturated fat content alone is enough to clog our arteries, and experts having been telling us for a while now that a diet high in red meat is linked to a higher risk of developing colon cancer…not to mention that raising cattle is highly energy intensive.

Then again, I believe that if you deprive yourself of something that you absolutely love, it can have a tendency to backfire on you. So first, let me say that if you don’t eat red meat, good for you!

But, if you haven’t quite reached that point, don’t be so hard on yourself. From now on, just do your best to opt for organic, grass-fed beef, since it’s the safest, healthiest choice if you’re going to eat red meat. However, if you like to grill your steaks and burgers—as a lot of folks do—keep in mind that grilled meat is often contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals as the result of the high heat.

The good news? Looking through a natural health magazine the other day, I found the following two recommendations for reducing carcinogenic compounds in red meat and realized that both were pretty smart!

• Marinate beef in red wine before grilling
• Rub fresh rosemary on the meat before grilling

Both red wine and rosemary are high in health-promoting antioxidants, which help prevent damage to healthy cells in the body. So with summer right around the corner, I wanted to pass on these helpful (and easy!) tips.

Happy grilling!