Grass-Fed Beef Loaded with Health Benefits
High in CLA, EFAs, enzymes; Absent of Antibiotics and Hormones
Beef has been demonized for several years, mainly because critics have said it’s too high in saturated fat and that it increases the risk for certain diseases.
However, many of these issues are triggered by an unnatural pH — a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution — in a cow’s first of two stomachs. For an animal to produce healthy meat for human consumption, its first of two stomachs must be healthy, according to U.S. Wellness Meats.
Forage-grazing — or grass-fed — animals have a healthy, highly functioning pH of 7, which allows for an abundance of the essential fermentation bacteria that create high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), omega-3s, branch-chain amino acids, vitamins, and digestive enzymes.
Conversely, when an animal lives on a heavy-starch grain diet, that healthy pH 7 drops to a highly acidic pH 4, which leads to a fermentation bacteria which impedes the production of healthy fats, such as CLA and omega-3s, and increases the level of omega-6s. Typical store-purchased beef and beef products come from grain-fed animals. Many products have been, and continue to be, marketed as “grass-fed,” when grass is only a part of their diet.
In addition, grain-fed animals require daily doses of low-level, feed-grade antibiotics to allow their livers to cope with this abnormal level of acidity. Plus, grain-fed animals receive growth hormones to fatten them quickly. With less exercise than forage-fed cattle, grain-fed cattle develop the heavier, marbled muscle mass that is typical of a high-carbohydrate, low-fiber diet.
Health Advantages of Grass-Fed Products
The American Grassfed Association defines grass-fed beef as products from cattle that have eaten nothing but their mother’s milk and fresh grass or grass-type hay from birth to harvest their entire lives. The same definition applies to other common products such as bison, goats, sheep, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy (milk, butter, and cheese).
Grass-fed beef is high in nutrients and contains all 22 amino acids, including the eight essential amino acids, which must be supplied in our diet.
According to the AGA, grass-fed animal products have been shown to be higher in beta carotene (vitamin A), CLA, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are important in reducing cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening diseases. These products are lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories. In addition, the risk of infection by E. coli in these products is virtually eliminated.
Most true grass-fed products are unavailable in most retail outlets, making it necessary for consumers to find and purchase directly from a producer. Check EatWild.com to locate grass-fed products throughout the United States.
For almost all of human history, cattle spent their lives years grazing on local grasses. Now, though, animals, many of which have never eaten grass after they’ve been weaned, are fattened on unnatural diets, with added hormones and antibiotics, and churned out for slaughter in little more than a year. This efficient industrial process guarantees that there will always be plenty of meat at local supermarkets — and that it will consistently be inexpensive.
Michael Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food, says “... some of our food animals, such as cows and sheep, are ruminants evolved to eat grass; if they eat too many seeds they become sick, which is why grain-fed cattle have to be given antibiotics. Even animals that do well on grain, such as chicken and pigs, are much healthier when they have access to green plants, and so, it turns out, are their meat and eggs.”
Read more:
No E. Coli or Mad Cow Disease in Grass-Fed Beef
Grass-Fed Beef Is Superior to Grain-Fed Beef
Grass-Fed Beef
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Health & Wellness
Latest Articles