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Hamburger? Good for you? For real? New research suggests this barbecue staple may not be as bad for you as once thought. The study, published in May in the journal Circulation, found that eating more red meat was not linked to diabetes or heart disease as was once thought. The study found instead that processed meats – bacon, salami, hot dogs – were associated with higher rates of heart disease and diabetes. Earlier studies had lumped the two groups of meat together, leaving open the possibility that the negative effects attributed to all red meats came from the processing.

Hamburger has a lot of good going for it. It’s chock full of vitamin B12 and iron, which can be hard to find in other foods. As with any meat, it contains a lot of protein and a smattering of other nutrients as well.

Watch out: Try to find lean meats to cut down on the fat in the beef. One hamburger patty, made with 90 percent lean meat, has nearly a fifth of a person’s recommended maximum daily intake of fat and a quarter of the daily intake of cholesterol. Despite the new study, those things are still unhealthy. Hamburger meat is a great food to eat on occasion but shouldn’t become an everyday food.

How to eat: Grill them, pan-fry or bake into casseroles.

— Betsy Q. Cliff, The Bulletin