Why Grass Fed Meat?

Meat is good. Grass fed meat is better...much better. Our ancestors did not eat meat harvested from animals that lived in crowded conditions on an unnatural diet of grain-based feed augmented with the remains of other cattle, and their food sources were not chock-full of artificially administered growth hormones and antibiotics. Our ancestors obtained their meat from wild animals that spent their entire lives subsisting on their natural diets, and thus we evolved to thrive on protein from such animals and the nutritional profile to be found in such meat.

The benefits of 100% grass fed meat are many. Eatwild.com has a lot of great info on these benefits, the basics of which can be found here. I like their summary from that page:

When you choose to eat meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping to put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale ranchers and farmers make a living from the land, helping to sustain rural communities, and giving your family the healthiest possible food. It’s a win-win-win-win situation.

Nutritional Benefits of Grass Fed Meat

Grass fed meats, when compared to modern feed lot meats, are higher in many vitamins, minerals, beneficial EFAs (essential fatty acids) and lower in fat. Frankly, eating grass fed meat is like taking a nutritional supplement - except instead of coming in the form of a pill it's in a juicy steak or burger. The list of nutritional benefits can hardly be overestimated. Please check out Eat Wild's Health Benefits for a detailed discussion. For those of you with a shorter attention span, here is a 10 point summary from that page:

Score Ten for Grass-Fed Beef

Grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. The 2009 study was a joint effort between the USDA and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina. Compared with grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef was:

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

S.K. Duckett et al, Journal of Animal Science, (published online) June 2009, “Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: III. Tissue proximate, fatty acid, vitamin and cholesterol content.”

Also mentioned is the fact that grass fed meat is significantly less likely to be contaminated with e. coli, and due to feeding methods is essentially immune to the underlying cause of mad cow disease.

The fatty acid profile in grass fed meat is similar to that of fish. Now I personally use fish oil supplements to augment my omega-3 intake because of the overwhelming research that supports fish/fish oil consumption as a major health benefit. Eating a grain-based diet has pushed the average American's omega-6/omega-3 ratio all out of whack relative to what it should naturally be, and this is thought to contribute to many modern metabolic ailments as well as cancer and heart disease. But eating plenty of grass fed meat can also provide you with a more natural, balanced fatty acid ratio.

Grain fed meat quickly loses any fatty acid benefits that may have been garnered during the short grazing period most cattle go through, but 100% grass fed animals build and maintain the proper fatty acid profile. The meat of grass fed animals also contains significantly higher levels of vitamins that you must otherwise get directly from vegetable sources if you only eat grain fed meat. This helps to explain how some hunter-gatherer cultures appear to do perfectly well on a predominantly meat-based diet. I'm not suggesting you go meat-only - I like veggies too much. But if you do, you'd better make sure it's grass fed!

Seriously - if you are truly concerned about your health and that of your family, do yourself a favor and research the nutritional benefits of grass fed meat. Read the information at Eat Wild.

Workout du Jour

Today's workout was a quick (16 minute) session of intervals on the heavy bag and kettlebell. Basically hitting and lifting in bursts of 60 seconds, with short 20-30 seconds active resting in between. That's good stuff. Now if the weather holds up I'm off to cut the grass and get some sunshine. Too bad I don't have any grazing animals to help me out!

Good luck and happy foraging!