Healthy barbecue. Sort of.

Is it true? Can barbecue actually be healthy for you? Yes and no. New research shows that the fat in a certain cut of barbecue may be the good monounsaturated type.

The research is by a team at Texas A&M, and thus the focus is on Texas-style barbecue and the famous Texas brisket. According to “meat scientist” Dr. Stephen Smith, brisket contains “tiny reservoirs of healthy monounsaturated fatty acids” with cornfed steer fat containing 50 percent oleic acid, a monounsaturated acid that’s good for the human body. (The healthiest oils, like olive oil, are around 70 percent oleic acid but can be as low as 50 percent oleic acid, making brisket nearly as good as olive oil.)