Download Healthy_Diet_and_Grass-Fed_Beef

What is a Healthy Diet?.................................................. 1
Grass-Fed vs Grain-Fed Beef………………………………….. 5
The Sickening Truth About Grain-fed/Feedlot Beef.… 13
Why Grains are Bad for You………………………………….. 14
What’s Really in a Lot of ‘Healthy’ Foods…………………15
Clifford Rote
Revised 06-21-09
Healthy Diet
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A healthy diet is high in protein, low in carbohydrates, and minimizes refined, processed and toxic foods.
A healthy diet contains:
• Organic Grass-fed (free-range) meats and eggs, and wild-raised fish
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Nuts and Seeds
• Berries
A healthy diet does NOT contain:
• Grain-fed meats and eggs (not even organic grain-fed)
• Processed meats of any kind
• Grains
• Beans
• Potatoes
• Dairy Products
• Sugar
Some interesting reviews of Neanderthin, from Amazon.com
Simplified version of mankind's evolutionary diet, April 28, 2009
By Joanne www.openmindrequired.com "Always Askin... (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
Every animal on the planet subsists on foods to which it is biologically adapted. Cows, with multiple stomachs, easily digest grass. Wolves,
with their sharp teeth and claws and acid stomachs easily digest meat, bone and sinew. Birds, with their crop, can break down grains and
digest them. So where do humans fit in? This is the question no one can answer definitively, though many purists claim to have.
For millions of years our ancestors have been subsisting on the land by hunting for meat animals and foraging for greens, berries, fruits
and some tubers. These are the foods to which we have biologically adapted over millenia. The premise of NeanderThin is that what got us
here can sustain us.
Mankind began animal husbandry and cultivation of crops only a short time ago, roughly 10,000 years, and lived off the farm with some
loss of vitality, such as smaller jaws (that cannot accommodate our wisdom teeth), thinner and weaker bones, some degenerative
diseases, and vertabral damage from grinding grains.
More recently, the industrial revolution has moved people off the farm into the city and corporations have taken over the growing of food.
Profit now trumps quality and foods are created from cheap commodities and chemicals and all life is processed out of them to increase
their shelf life. We depend on grains, foods flavored from grain sugars, and meat that is grown on grains. We've switched from a main fuel
source of protein and fat to that of plant fats and hybridized carbohydrates, and degenerative diseases abound.
Audette suggests that obesity and many of the degenerative diseases are autoimmune reactions to toxins or foods to which we are
allergic, namely grains and legumes. This makes sense, since fat is a safe place to store toxins. The paleolithic diet espoused here
includes meat and eggs (preferably grass-fed and free-range), vegetables, fruits and nuts, all of which can be acquired with a sharp stick
(meat) and consumed raw (plants), or minimally processed.
The beauty of the book is its simplicity. Anyone can follow this diet after one reading. The book includes how the author reversed his
chronic diseases and lost weight; our place in the food chain; the diet of our ancestors; the effects of the agricultural revolution;
recommendations for exercising; recipes; example meal plans; a Q&A section; and an extensive bibliography.
The shortfalls are that the book is short on scientific references and notations, and the author made several claims that I would have liked
more information on, like how our digestive tract most closely resembles that of the canine.
Healthy Diet
Some interesting reviews of Neanderthin, from Amazon.com
Simplified version of mankind's evolutionary diet, April 28, 2009
By Joanne www.openmindrequired.com "Always Askin... (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
Every animal on the planet subsists on foods to which it is biologically adapted. Cows, with multiple stomachs,
easily digest grass. Wolves, with their sharp teeth and claws and acid stomachs easily digest meat, bone and
sinew. Birds, with their crop, can break down grains and digest them. So where do humans fit in? This is the
question no one can answer definitively, though many purists claim to have.
For millions of years our ancestors have been subsisting on the land by hunting for meat animals and foraging for
greens, berries, fruits and some tubers. These are the foods to which we have biologically adapted over millenia.
The premise of NeanderThin is that what got us here can sustain us.
Mankind began animal husbandry and cultivation of crops only a short time ago, roughly 10,000 years, and lived
off the farm with some loss of vitality, such as smaller jaws (that cannot accommodate our wisdom teeth), thinner
and weaker bones, some degenerative diseases, and vertabral damage from grinding grains.
More recently, the industrial revolution has moved people off the farm into the city and corporations have taken
over the growing of food. Profit now trumps quality and foods are created from cheap commodities and chemicals
and all life is processed out of them to increase their shelf life. We depend on grains, foods flavored from grain
sugars, and meat that is grown on grains. We've switched from a main fuel source of protein and fat to that of
plant fats and hybridized carbohydrates, and degenerative diseases abound.
Audette suggests that obesity and many of the degenerative diseases are autoimmune reactions to toxins or
foods to which we are allergic, namely grains and legumes. This makes sense, since fat is a safe place to store
toxins. The paleolithic diet espoused here includes meat and eggs (preferably grass-fed and free-range),
vegetables, fruits and nuts, all of which can be acquired with a sharp stick (meat) and consumed raw (plants), or
minimally processed.
The beauty of the book is its simplicity. Anyone can follow this diet after one reading. The book includes how the
author reversed his chronic diseases and lost weight; our place in the food chain; the diet of our ancestors; the
effects of the agricultural revolution; recommendations for exercising; recipes; example meal plans; a Q&A
section; and an extensive bibliography.
The shortfalls are that the book is short on scientific references and notations, and the author made several
claims that I would have liked more information on, like how our digestive tract most closely resembles that of the
canine.
Many of us are allergic to certain foods, but the symptoms are so hidden we don't realize it's the food that's
causing our troubles. Try this diet for a few months, and if you simply must have dairy or grains, try a little at first
and see how it affects you.
I've been through vegetarian, vegan, raw food, and 80/10/10 diets, all of which were unsustainable for me and left
me craving and obsessing over food. Eating some of these simple meals of meat and vegetables leaves me
satisfied. This diet is sustainable."
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Healthy Diet
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Some interesting reviews of Neanderthin, from Amazon.com
Food Poisoning, June 16, 2004
This book will change your life as it has done for many. NeanderThin is not the Atkins Diet. NeanderThin primarily
advocates a Technology Free Diet. The basic premise as stated somewhat whimsically but `Dead Serious' by Ray
Audette in NeanderThin is: "Never eat anything that you cannot get naked, armed with only a sharp stick." What does
this mean?
First of all NeanderThin does not recommend the Atkins and other cookie cutter diets. Mr. Audette's IQ is above sea
level. He understands that each person's metabolism is different due to the individual's genetic make up. Add to that the
fact that instead of addressing individuals who from birth have only eaten technologically created foods, the people that
are seeking help are ones that have already reached a point in their lives where they have health issues, which are
impacting their lives, often quite severely.
Bringing people back from the edge of disaster is not easily accomplished. Unlike those, who after years of self abuse
and sins find salvation in their spirit, the flesh that has been corrupted will never fully recover from the damage inflicted
by years of poisons that were willingly ingested.
Ignorance is far from blissful.
A mother would never voluntarily poison her children by feeding them arsenic laced foods. Yet in looking back, the
health and obesity crisis in America, which is spreading like a virus into the rest of the world, started at home. Parents
are waking up in droves to the fact that indeed, they are the cause of their children's auto-immune diseases and dietary
habits that lead to their early demise and disabilities. Because of course we, (as I am among those parents, and so are
you, and so were your grandparents; we only had the best intentions in rearing our children) cannot easily accept that
we have poisoned our children's bodies and minds, we look for blame in corporate and government conspiracies and
other delusional; places.
The road to Hell on Earth is paved with loving good intentions.
A mother sits by her 40 year old son's hospital bed. Her son weighs 230 pounds and is dying. The diagnosis is clear.
Her son will die soon. She is looking for the cause. She is told that her son is dying because of the accumulation of
plaque in his arteries and failure of his liver and immune system. She also is confronted with the fact that the root
causes go back to childhood and continued into adulthood/ His illness is caused by the dietary pattern that he followed,
This is why he finds himself about to have major surgery. The surgery, which will cost more than his income of several
years, may only expedite his demise or if the operation is successful, may result in a few more years of survival in a less
than pleasant state of being.
Is it too late for ME?
Unfortunately, many who ask this question must accept the fact that indeed, it is too late. After a certain threshold is
exceeded, at best there will be some improvement but the damage will not be undone. Early detection and Prevention
are an option only before the effects of what was ingested over many years of ignorance results in what we are
observing today. This is true in cancers, aids, and virtually all the preventable instances diseases and illnesses that are
caused by ingestion of substances that for all practical purposes have turned out to be time release poisons. I use the
word poison only because a poison under any other name is still a poison.
Save the Children
It may be too late for you but you can still Save the Children. Once you understand and accept that `you are what you
eat and what you are eating has eaten, and the results for you are less than positive, how you in good conscience can
continue to poison your children? The Unhappy Meals at the fast food establishment, the family sized bags of ground
and fried grains, the greasy death fries that you adore are from the same class of poisons. They make you feel good at
the moment of ingestion yet will slowly cause the debilitating illness that will either kill you or force you to live in misery.
All this while paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for each day that you prolong the agony while family and
friends pay and pray for your recovery. Drug abuse can be stopped and will not have the same long term negative
effects as abusing one's body by poisoning it every day with harmful substances sold without even a warning label.
Regardless what stage of un-health you find yourself in you will improve, even if you cannot undo all the damage done.
Starting today: "Never eat anything that you cannot get naked, armed with only a sharp stick."
Teach Your Children Well!
Teach your children this same simple principle and you will avoid the fights at the grocery store and restaurant. "Never
eat anything that you cannot get naked, armed with only a sharp stick." Instead of making up some reason that even
you do not understand reiterate the teaching. With all the peer pressure, TV and print advertising and promotions they
are exposed to it will not be easy, but they will thank you later. They will thank you as they watch their friends suffer
years later and loose them by outliving them by years and even decades. So instead of trying to win the parental
popularity contest, be kind to them and do not poison them or allow them to poison themselves.
This is what I Learned from this book.
Healthy Diet
Some interesting reviews of Neanderthin, from Amazon.com
Eat healthfully for the first time in your life, June 16, 2004
Reviewer: A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews
I'm a low-carb dieter who lost 47 lbs on the Atkins diet last year. During that time I felt great, slept better, skin cleared
up, had wonderful energy and also experienced other little side benefits to the weight loss that are too numerous to
get into here. However, after several months I plateaued at about 25 lbs above my ideal, and of course I wanted to
jump-start my weight loss again. So, I did a little investigating, discovered the Neanderthin diet and decided to give it
a try.
A brief summary of the basics of this diet: eat no technology-dependant foods. By that, author Ray Audette meant
that if a food needs technology beyond a sharp stick or stone to process it to become edible, or to exist in its present
form, it was never a natural part of our human diet, which had its origins with hunter-gatherer societies. What foods
absolutely must be processed and/or cooked are: grains, including wheat, rice and most others; starchy vegetables
like potatoes and yams; legumes, including peanuts, beans and peas. Refined sugars and artificial sweeteners are
absolutely unnatural, although a small bit of honey is fine. Modern fruits are okay but must be eaten sparingly due to
the fact that they have been altered over thousands of years to barely resemble the wild originals that our ancestors
snacked on, usually much larger and with a much higher sugar content. Fermented foods are of course absent
without our technology, so that excludes cheeses, vinegars and alcohols. Dairy products are also absent from the
lives of hunter gatherers for obvious reasons. That leaves us with meats, fish/seafood, eggs, nuts, most vegetables,
greens, and small amounts of fruits and berries.
I tried the hunter-gatherer diet for about one month. Just as with Atkins, I felt wonderful and had all of the other side
benefits of the low-carb diet, but my weight loss was still stalled. You see, the allowance of fruits on this diet was too
great a temptation and I overdid it there. Longtime dieters may be familiar with the term "trigger", which is anything
that causes your cravings to resurface. Some people like me have carb triggers so sensitive that even fruits can
activate them. So, reluctantly I concluded that I would have to replace the Neanderthin diet with a low-carb diet that
forbid me to have any fruit, at least during the weight loss phase. When I am finished and at my goal weight,
however, I will return to the Neanderthin diet to maintain my excellent health, as I can't imagine a life entirely without
strawberries, peaches and melons!
I should note here that the authors Audette and Gilchrist do not advocate this diet as an aid to weight loss per se, but
for reversing health problems and improving overall fitness. They theorize that diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity
and many other curses of civilization are the byproducts of an immune system response to unnatural foods like
grains: they show how you can trace the origins and progression of these conditions from the time grains and other
technology-dependant foods were introduced into a culture. Examples in our European culture point to the Industrial
Revolution as the biggest health problem of our history, when steam powered mills made refined white flours and
sugars commonly available and cheap to the masses. Until then heart disease and diabetes (just to pick two
examples) were so rare as to be unheard of; now they are epidemic in the USA, which by the way consumes more
refined flour and sugar per person than any nation in the world.
Audette's theories and explanations make perfect sense to me, a non-scientist. They may partly explain why other
low-carb diets are successful for weight loss. I can also see the sense in removing refined and processed foods from
my diet, along with all the chemicals and trans fats that come with them. It's just too bad that a hunter-gatherer diet
has a built in flaw, namely that the diet food industry can't cash in on it (remember, no artificial sweeteners or
processed foods), and therefore it won't get the kind of publicity that diets like Atkins and Protein Power have had.
Hopefully, the good word of mouth from satisfied dieters will spread and eventually get Audette nd Gilchrist the
acclaim they deserve for helping so many people get back their health and quality of life.
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Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
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The Bottom Line
• Grass-fed beef is very good for you.
• Grain-fed (feedlot) beef is very bad for you.
• The usual warnings against consuming large quantities of red meat are appropriate for Grain-fed beef, but not for
Grass-fed beef.
• If you were to substitute Grain-fed beef for your current diet of Grass-fed beef you would
--triple your intake of unhealthy/dangerous fats and calories,
--decrease your intake of healthy proteins, Omega-3, Vitamins A and E, and CLA,
--feel bloated,
--develop a bad body odor,
--gain weight
--increase your risk of becoming ill or dying from E. Coli bacteria.
An excellent supplier of grass-fed beef is Wheel-View Farm, Shelburne, MA 01370, 413-625-2900. Carolyn Wheeler
handles sales and knows Cliff very well. The Wheelers raise Belted Galloway cattle, an ancient Scottish breed. The
cattle graze on summer pastures and are fed grass-legume hay from Wheel-View’s fields during the winter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Benefits of Grass-fed Beef
• Much lower in fat and calories.
-Can have only 1/3 the fat of a similar cut of grain-fed beef. Grass-fed is also much lower in unhealthy saturated
fats than grain-fed and has a better polyunsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio..
-Fat has 9 calories per gram. Therefore, switching to lean grass-fed beef could save you 17,733 calories a year—
without requiring any willpower or change in your eating habits. If everything else in your diet remained constant,
you'd lose about six pounds per year.
• Much Higher Protein Content
-Because of it’s inherently low fat content (2.6 % by weight), grass fed beef is also a high protein food averaging
77 % protein by total energy.
-Contrast these values to USDA Choice (+) beef with only 49 % protein by energy, or USDA Prime (o) beef with
40% protein by energy, or worse still, fatty ground beef with 20% protein by energy. A litany of recent human
studies demonstrates that isocaloric replacement of dietary fat by lean protein has numerous health promoting
effects.
• Two to four times the Omega-3 essential fatty acids of grain-fed beef.
-Omega-3 EFAs help with the heart (fewer heart attacks, lower blood pressure, less chance of irregular
heartbeat), the brain (depression, schizophrenia, ADD, Alzheimer's). Lowers the risk of cancer.
-Grain-fed beef has a much higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids than wild game or grass-fed beef. A
high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids has been linked with an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular
disease, allergies, depression, obesity, and auto-immune disorders. A ratio of 4:1 or lower is considered
ideal. The ratio in grain-fed beef is more than 14:1. In grass-fed beef, it is approximately 2:1.
• Three-times more CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) than grain-fed.
-CLA is a cancer-fighting fat that is most abundant in grass-fed products. Two new European studies link a diet
high in CLA with a lower risk of breast cancer.
• Four times more Vitamin E than grain-fed beef..
-Vitamin E is linked with lower risk of heart disease and cancer and may also have anti-aging properties. Most
Americans are Vitamin E-deficient.
• Ten times the Vitamin A (ß-Carotene) of grain-fed beef.
-While excessive amounts of vitamin A in supplement form can be toxic, the body will only convert as much
vitamin A from beta-carotene as it needs, thus beta-carotene is a safe dietary source for vitamin A
supplementation.
-Vitamin A is a critical fat-soluble vitamin that is important for normal vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell
division, and cell differentiation. The overall integrity of skin and mucous membranes is maintained by vitamin A,
creating a barrier to bacterial and viral infection. In addition, vitamin A is involved in the regulation of immune
function by supporting the production and function of white blood cells.
• Grass-fed animals are much less likely than grain-fed to transmit the potentially deadly E. Coli bacteria.
Time Magazine June 11, 2006: The Grass-Fed Revolution
Atlanta Examiner February 27, 2009: Grass fed beef is all natural and good for you, too
The Washington Post March 15, 2006: Grass-Fed Beef Called Healthier
Mother Earth News September 2007: 5 Reasons to Add Grass-fed Beef to Your Grocery List
The Atlantic Monthly May 2003: Back to Grass
The Paleo Diet Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 2: Grass-Fed Beef
Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
Lower in Fat and Calories. Meat from grass-fed cattle, sheep,
and bison is lower in total fat. If the meat is very lean, it can
have one third as much fat as a similar cut from a grain-fed
animal. Grass-fed beef can have the same amount of fat as
skinless chicken breast, wild deer, or elk.[1] Research shows
that lean beef actually lowers your "bad" LDL cholesterol
levels.[2]
Because meat from grass-fed animals is lower in fat than meat
from grain-fed animals, it is also lower in calories. (Fat has 9
calories per gram, compared with only 4 calories for protein
and carbohydrates. The greater the fat content, the greater the
number of calories.) As an example, a 6-ounce steak from a
grass-finished steer can have 100 fewer calories than a 6ounce steak from a grain-fed steer. If you eat a typical amount
of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to lean grassfed beef
will save you 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any
willpower or change in your eating habits. If everything else in
your diet remains constant, you'll lose about six pounds a year.
If all Americans switched to grassfed meat, our national
epidemic of obesity might diminish.
The CLA Bonus. Meat and dairy products from grass-fed
ruminants are the richest known source of another type of
good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA. When
ruminants are raised on fresh pasture alone, their products
contain from three to five times more CLA than products from
animals fed conventional diets.[11] (A steak from the most
marbled grass-fed animals will have the most CLA ,as much of
the CLA is stored in fat cells.)
CLA may be one of our most potent defenses against cancer.
In laboratory animals, a very small percentage of CLA—a mere
0.1 percent of total calories—greatly reduced tumor growth.
[12] There is new evidence that CLA may also reduce cancer
risk in humans. In a Finnish study, women who had the highest
levels of CLA in their diet, had a 60 percent lower risk of breast
cancer than those with the lowest levels. Switching from
grain-fed to grassfed meat and dairy products places
women in this lowest risk category.13 Researcher Tilak
Dhiman from Utah State University estimates that you may be
able to lower your risk of cancer simply by eating the following
grassfed products each day: one glass of whole milk, one
ounce of cheese, and one serving of meat. You would have to
eat five times that amount of grain-fed meat and dairy products
to get the same level of protection.
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Extra Omega-3s. Meat from grass-fed animals has two to
four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grainfed animals. Omega-3s are called "good fats" because they
play a vital role in every cell and system in your body. For
example, of all the fats, they are the most heart-friendly.
People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet
are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular
heartbeat. Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to
suffer a heart attack.[3] Omega-3s are essential for your
brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less
likely to suffer from depression, schizophrenia, attention
deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's disease.[4]
Another benefit of omega-3s is that they may reduce your
risk of cancer. In animal studies, these essential fats have
slowed the growth of a wide array of cancers and also kept
them from spreading.[5] Although the human research is in
its infancy, researchers have shown that omega-3s can slow
or even reverse the extreme weight loss that accompanies
advanced cancer and also hasten recovery from surgery.[6,7]
Omega-3s are most abundant in seafood and certain nuts
and seeds such as flaxseeds and walnuts, but they are also
found in animals raised on pasture. The reason is simple.
Omega-3s are formed in the chloroplasts of green leaves and
algae. Sixty percent of the fatty acids in grass are omega-3s.
When cattle are taken off omega-3 rich grass and shipped to
a feedlot to be fattened on omega-3 poor grain, they begin
losing their store of this beneficial fat. Each day that an
animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of omega-3s is
diminished.[8] The graph above illustrates this steady
decline.
It has been estimated that only 40 percent of Americans
consume an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acids. Twenty
percent have blood levels so low that they cannot be
detected.[10] Switching to the meat, milk, and dairy products
of grass-fed animals is one way to restore this vital nutrient to
your diet.
Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
Extra Vitamin E. Meat from grassfed animals is also higher in vitamin E.
The graph above shows vitamin E levels in meat from: 1) feedlot cattle,
2) feedlot cattle given high doses of synthetic vitamin E (1,000 IU per
day), and 3) cattle raised on fresh pasture with no added supplements.
The meat from the pastured cattle is four times higher in vitamin E than
the meat from the feedlot cattle and, interestingly, almost twice as high
as the meat from the feedlot cattle given vitamin E supplements. [14#] In
humans, vitamin E is linked with a lower risk of heart disease and cancer.
This potent antioxidant may also have anti-aging properties. Most
Americans are deficient in vitamin E.
7 of 15
Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
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Data: G.J. Miller, "Lipids in Wild Ruminant Animals and Steers." J. of
Food Quality, 9:331-343, 1986.)
Data: G.J. Miller, "Lipids in Wild Ruminant Animals and Steers." J. of
Food Quality, 9:331-343, 1986.)
When cattle are free to forage on their natural diet of grass, their
meat is almost as lean as wild game. The graph below shows that
grassfed beef has an overall fat content similar to antelope, deer,
and elk.
Grain-fed beef has a much higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty
acids than wild game or grass-fed beef. A high ratio of omega-6 to
omega-3 fatty acids has been linked with an increased risk of
cancer, cardiovascular disease, allergies, depression, obesity, and
auto-immune disorders.
A ratio of four or lower is considered ideal. The ratio in grain-fed
beef is more than 14 to 1. In grassfed beef, it is approximately two
to one.
Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
Data: (Diez-Gonzalez, F., et al. (1998). "Grain-feeding and the dissemination of acid-resistant Escherichia coli from Cattle."
Science 281, 1666-8.)
The deadliest form of E. Coli is more common than originally thought. Fortunately, grassfed animals are much less likely
to transmit the disease.
A study in the March 28th, 2000 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that as many as one out of
every three cattle may play host to the deadliest strain of E. coli bacteria ( 0157:H) This is ten times higher than earlier estimates.
As explained in more detail in Why Grassfed Is Best!, feeding cattle their natural diet of grass instead of grain greatly reduces the
risk of disease transmission. Why? First, it keeps the overall bacteria count low. Second, it prevents the bacteria from becoming
acid resistant. Acid-resistant bacteria are far more likely to survive the acidity of our normal digestive juices and cause disease.
The first graph above illustrates the absolute numbers of E. coli bacteria found in grassfed versus grainfed animals. The second
graph shows how many of the bacteria are likely to withstand our gastric juices. (Note: Grassfed animals have so few acidresistant bacteria that the number fails to register on the scale of the graph.)
One of the lead researchers on the project, USDA microbiologist James Russell, told a reporter for Science Magazine, "We were
absolutely shocked by the difference. We never found an animal that didn't agree with the trend."
You should still take the normal precautions when handling and cooking grassfed meat, however. As few as ten E. coli bacteria
can cause disease in people with weakened immune systems.
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Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
Data: US Dairy Forage Research Center, 1995 Research Summaries.
Switching to grassfed products helps balance the essential fats in your diet
There are two types of fats that are essential for your health—omega-6 and
omega-3 fatty acids. The typical western diet is overloaded with omega-6 fatty
acids and deficient in omega-3s, upsetting a critical balance. Look at the graph
above and you will see that fresh pasture has two times more omega-3 than
omega-6 fatty acids. Grain and soy, on the other hand, have far more omega-6s
than omega-3s.
Therefore, when you switch to grassfed products, you are helping to correct the
gross imbalance in the western diet. Eating a balanced ratio of essential fatty
acids is linked with a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and
mental disorders. (To learn more about this essential balance, read The Omega
Diet by Simopoulos and Robinson, HarperCollins 1999.)
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Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
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Grass-Fed Beef vs Grain-Fed Beef
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William P. Weiss, Department of Animal Sciences OARDC, The Ohio State
University, Wooster, OH 44691
Grassfed animal products have a bonus supply of vitamin E
The chart above shows the relative amounts of vitamin E in corn and grass. As
you can see, when animals are raised on fresh pasture, they get considerably
more of this important vitamin. When consumers choose grassfed products, they,
too get an extra helping of this immune-boosting, age-defying antioxidant.
Summary References
1. Rule, D. C., K. S. Brought on, S. M. Shellito, and G. Maiorano. "Comparison of Muscle Fatty Acid Profiles and Cholesterol Concentrations of Bison, Beef Cattle, Elk,
and Chicken." J Anim Sci 80, no. 5 (2002): 1202-11.
2. Davidson, M. H., D. Hunninghake, et al. (1999). "Comparison of the effects of lean red meat vs lean white meat on serum lipid levels among free-living persons with
hypercholesterolemia: a long-term, randomized clinical trial." Arch Intern Med 159(12): 1331-8. The conclusion of this study: "... diets containing primarily lean red meat
or lean white meat produced similar reductions in LDL cholesterol and elevations in HDL cholesterol, which were maintained throughout the 36 weeks of treatment."
3. Siscovick, D. S., T. E. Raghunathan, et al. (1995). "Dietary Intake and Cell Membrane Levels of Long-Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Risk of Primary
Cardiac Arrest." JAMA 274(17): 1363-1367.
4. Simopolous, A. P. and Jo Robinson (1999). The Omega Diet. New York, HarperCollins. My previous book, a collaboration with Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos, devotes an
entire chapter to the vital role that omega-3s play in brain function.
5. Rose, D. P., J. M. Connolly, et al. (1995). "Influence of Diets Containing Eicosapentaenoic or Docasahexaenoic Acid on Growth and Metastasis of Breast Cancer Cells
in Nude Mice." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 87(8): 587-92.
6. Tisdale, M. J. (1999). "Wasting in cancer." J Nutr 129(1S Suppl): 243S-246S.
7. Tashiro, T., H. Yamamori, et al. (1998). "n-3 versus n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in critical illness." Nutrition 14(6): 551-3.
8. Duckett, S. K., D. G. Wagner, et al. (1993). "Effects of time on feed on beef nutrient composition." J Anim Sci 71(8): 2079-88.
9. Lopez-Bote, C. J., R.Sanz Arias, A.I. Rey, A. Castano, B. Isabel, J. Thos (1998). "Effect of free-range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content
and oxidative stability of eggs." Animal Feed Science and Technology 72: 33-40.
10. Dolecek, T. A. and G. Grandits (1991). "Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Mortality in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT)." World Rev Nutr Diet
66: 205-16.
11. Dhiman, T. R., G. R. Anand, et al. (1999). "Conjugated linoleic acid content of milk from cows fed different diets." J Dairy Sci 82(10): 2146-56. Interestingly, when the
pasture was machine-harvested and then fed to the animals as hay, the cows produced far less CLA than when they were grazing on that pasture, even though the hay
was made from the very same grass. The fat that the animals use to produce CLA is oxidized during the wilting, drying process. For maximum CLA, animals need to be
grazing living pasture.
12. Ip, C, J.A. Scimeca, et al. (1994) "Conjugated linoleic acid. A powerful anti-carcinogen from animal fat sources." p. 1053. Cancer 74(3 suppl):1050-4.
13. Aro, A., S. Mannisto, I. Salminen, M. L. Ovaskainen, V. Kataja, and M. Uusitupa. "Inverse Association between Dietary and Serum Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Risk
of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women." Nutr Cancer 38, no. 2 (2000): 151-7.
14. Smith, G.C. "Dietary supplementation of vitamin E to cattle to improve shelf life and case life of beef for domestic and international markets." Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1171
Source: http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm
The Sickening Truth About Grain-fed/Feedlot Beef
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Feeding grain to cattle has got to be one of the dumbest ideas in the history of western civilization.
Cows, sheep, and other grazing animals are endowed with the ability to convert grasses, which those of us who possess only one stomach cannot
digest, into food that we can digest. They can do this because they are ruminants, which is to say that they possess a rumen, a 45 or so gallon (in
the case of cows) fermentation tank in which resident bacteria convert cellulose into protein and fats.
Traditionally, all beef was grass-fed beef, but in the United States today what is commercially available is almost all feedlot beef. The reason? It's
faster, and so more profitable. Seventy-five years ago, steers were 4 or 5 years old at slaughter. Today, they are 14 or 16 months. You can't take a
beef calf from a birth weight of 80 pounds to 1,200 pounds in a little more than a year on grass. It takes enormous quantities of corn, protein
supplements, antibiotics and other drugs, including growth hormones.
Switching a cow from grass to grain is so disturbing to the animal's digestive system that it can kill the animal if not done gradually and if the animal
is not continually fed antibiotics. These animals are designed to forage, but we make them eat grain, primarily corn, in order to make them as fat as
possible as fast as possible.
Author and small-scale cattleman Michael Pollan wrote recently in the New York Times about what happens to cows when they are taken off of
pastures and put into feedlots and fed grain:
"Perhaps the most serious thing that can go wrong with a ruminant on corn is feedlot bloat. The rumen is always producing copious amounts of
gas, which is normally expelled by belching during rumination. But when the diet contains too much starch and too little roughage, rumination all but
stops, and a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal's lungs.
Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal's esophagus), the cow suffocates.
A corn diet can also give a cow acidosis. Unlike that in our own highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of a rumen is neutral. Corn makes it
unnaturally acidic, however, causing a kind of bovine heartburn, which in some cases can kill the animal but usually just makes it sick. Acidotic
animals go off their feed, pant and salivate excessively, paw at their bellies and eat dirt. The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver
disease and a general weakening of the immune system that leaves the animal vulnerable to everything from pneumonia to feedlot polio."
All this is not only unnatural and dangerous for the cows. It also has profound consequences for us. Feedlot beef as we know it today would be
impossible if it weren't for the routine and continual feeding of antibiotics to these animals. This leads directly and inexorably to the development of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These are the new "superbugs" that are increasingly rendering our "miracle drugs" ineffective.
As well, it is the commercial meat industry's practice of keeping cattle in feedlots and feeding them grain that is responsible for the heightened
prevalence of E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria. When cattle are grainfed, their intestinal tracts become far more acidic, which favors the growth of
pathogenic E. coli bacteria, which in turn kills people who eat undercooked hamburger.
E. coli 0157:H7 has only recently appeared on the scene. First isolated in the 1980s, this pathogen is now found in the intestines of most U.S.
feedlot cattle. The practice of feeding corn and other grains to cattle has created the perfect conditions for microbes to come into being that can
harm and kill us. As Michael Pollan explains:
"Most of the microbes that reside in the gut of a cow and find their way into our food get killed off by the acids in our stomachs, since they originally
adapted to live in a neutral-pH environment. But the digestive tract of the modern feedlot cow is closer in acidity to our own, and in this new,
manmade environment acid-resistant strains of E. coli have developed that can survive our stomach acids - and go on to kill us. By acidifying a
cow's gut with corn, we have broken down one of our food chain's barriers to infections."
Many of us think of "corn-fed" beef as nutritionally superior, but it isn't. A corn-fed cow does develop well-marbled flesh, but this is simply saturated
fat that can't be trimmed off. Grass-fed meat, on the other hand, is lower both in overall fat and in artery-clogging saturated fat. A sirloin steak from
a grain-fed feedlot steer has more than double the total fat of a similar cut from a grass-fed steer. In its less-than-infinite wisdom, however, the
USDA continues to grade beef in a way that rewards marbling with intra-muscular fat.
Grass-fed beef not only is lower in overall fat and in saturated fat, but it has the added advantage of providing more omega-3 fats. These crucial
healthy fats are most plentiful in flaxseeds and fish, and are also found in walnuts, soybeans and in meat from animals that have grazed on omega3 rich grass. When cattle are taken off grass, though, and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on grain, they immediately begin losing the omega-3s
they have stored in their tissues. As a consequence, the meat from feedlot animals typically contains only 15- 50 percent as much omega-3s as
that from grass-fed livestock.
This is certainly an advantage for grass-fed beef, but it comes with a cost. The higher omega-3 levels and other differences in fatty acid
composition contributes to flavors and odors in grass-fed meat that most people find undesirable. Taste-panel participants have found the meat
from grass-fed animals to be characterized by "off-flavors including ammonia, gamey, bitter, liverish, old, rotten and sour."
In addition to being higher in healthy omega-3s, meat from pastured cattle is also up to four times higher in vitamin E than meat from feedlot cattle,
and much higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a nutrient associated with lower cancer risk.
As well as these nutritional advantages, there are also decided environmental benefits to grass-fed beef. According to David Pimentel, a Cornell
ecologist who specializes in agriculture and energy, the corn we feed our feedlot cattle accounts for a staggering amount of fossil fuel energy.
Growing the corn used to feed livestock in this country takes vast quantities of chemical fertilizer, which in turn takes vast quantities of oil. Because
of this dependence on petroleum, Pimentel says, a typical steer will in effect consume 284 gallons of oil in his lifetime. Comments Michael Pollan,
"We have succeeded in industrializing the beef calf, transforming what was once a solar-powered ruminant into the very last thing we need: another
fossil-fuel machine."
In addition to consuming less energy, grass-fed beef has another environmental advantage - it is far less polluting. The animals' wastes drop onto
the land, becoming nutrients for the next cycle of crops. In feedlots and other forms of factory farming, however, the animals' wastes build up in
enormous quantities, becoming a staggering source of water and air pollution.
From a humanitarian perspective, there is yet another advantage to pastured animal products. The animals themselves are not forced to live in
confinement. The cruelties of modern factory farming are so severe that you don't have to be a vegetarian or an animal rights activist to find the
conditions to be intolerable, and a violation of the human-animal bond. Pastured livestock are not forced to endure the miseries of factory farming.
They are not cooped up in cages barely larger than their own bodies, or packed together like sardines for months on end standing knee deep in
their own manure.
It's important to remember that grass-fed is not the same as organic. Natural food stores often sell organic beef and dairy products that are
hormone- and antibiotic- free. While these products come from animals who most likely were fed less grain than the industry norm, they typically still
spent their last months (or in the case of dairy cows virtually their whole lives) in feedlots where they were fed grain. Even when the grain is raised
organically, feeding large amounts of grain to a ruminant animal compromises the nutritional value of the resulting meat or dairy products and
exacts an added toll on the environment.
Just as organic does not mean grass-fed, grass-fed does not mean organic. Pastured animals sometimes graze on land that has been treated with
synthetic fertilizers and even doused with herbicides. Unless the meat label specifically says it is both grass-fed and organic, it isn't.
Source: http://www.foodrevolution.org/grassfedbeef.htm
Why Grains are Bad for You
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An eye-opening review of Dangerous Grains from Amazon.com
Amber Graves of Grain, October 1, 2003 Reviewer:Bill Norwood (Greenbelt, MD USA) - A BARGAIN: 244 pages and 383 citations with
accessible science about hundreds of illnesses.
READ THIS BOOK, and if the symptoms and illnesses of yourself and/or esteemed others jump out at you, read it again (as I have) for
relevance, understanding, connection, note-taking, retention, resolve and competence in sharing. Also read the appendices and the 28 pages of
information-dense references. Also, if you have the fortitude, look up the definitions of all of the listed illnesses - such work and knowledge
acquisition might provide the discipline required for making any recommended dietary changes.
MAIN TOPICS:
(1) Illnesses and diseases in the US population resulting from celiac disease which is "an ailment whereby the inside lining of the small
intestine...is chronically damaged by gluten proteins and their interaction with the immune system" (~1% of population). and
2) "Non-celiac gluten sensitivity which exists whenever an individual's immune system is mounting an abnormal reaction to gluten" (~ 20% of
population).
USEFULNESS:
The authors skillfully explain the role of gluten grains in almost 200 medical and psychiatric conditions and they emphasize about 20
auto-immune diseases. Some attention grabbers: ADHD, arthritis, asthma, autism, cancer, Crohn's disease, depression, dermatitis
herpetiformis, diabetes, epilepsy, headache, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, liver disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis,
schizophrenia and thyroid disease. They strongly advise testing for food sensitivities and celiac disease when these (especially autoimmune)
illnesses exist. They recommend providing doctors copies of reference articles, since they may not know about the rapidly-expanding repertoire
of available tests. Already experiencing digestive improvement, I share this book with friends and relatives.
CELIAC DISEASE AND HEREDITY: first degree relatives 4.5-8.5%; siblings 13.8%; offspring 12%; identical twins 70%.
LESS-FAMILIAR FACTS:
1. Humans have consumed grains during less than 0.5% of their history.
2. Gluten-related illnesses have newly occurred with "many aboriginal groups just recently introduced to a gluten-rich diet."
3. History: Stanislas Tanchou published findings over 150 years ago that imply that foods from grains cause cancer. Samuel Gee provided a
highly-regarded description of classic celiac disease by 1888 and Willem Karel Dicke realized that wheat caused celiac symptoms by 1936.
Incidence is 40 times that claimed a decade ago.
4. Schizophrenia incidence During WW-II substantially decreased among European populations suffering grain shortages. Ca 1969 F. Curtis
Dohan et al reported that schizophrenia is frequently found in celiac disease and the reverse.
5. Genetic markers for gluten sensitivity or celiac disease occur in 43% of US population.
6. Genetic marker testing, especially if there is gluten-induced illness in relatives, is also advised for the asymptomatic because, "Those who do
not feel ill in response to allergic substances in their environment are more likely to succumb to the harmful effects of these allergens."
7. Celiac disease waits for an average of 11 years before diagnosis and only 2.5% are ever diagnosed.
8. Malabsorption may not be permanent - villi, the millions of nutrient absorbers that line our small intestines, which can be flattened by disease,
can be raised up again.
9. Depressive illness is the most common symptom of gluten intolerance
10. Rheumatoid arthritics (about half) show clear signs of gluten sensitivity. [See the book, Neanderthin.]
11. AIDS death rate is increased by 20-fold when there is selenium deficiency which is commonly found in non-celiac, gluten-sensitive persons.
12. Significant bone loss occurs in 70% of persons with undetected celiac disease. Dairy products and calcium supplements may actually
decrease bone density, while, for celiacs, a year on a gluten-free diet with proper supplementation can increase bone density.
13. Diabetes (IDDM) can be prevented by a gluten-free diet if genetic proneness is detected early.
14. Diet and nutrition's medicinal value is indicated in tens of thousands of studies.
BREAKING THE GLUTEN ADDICTION: There are certain peptides, or protein fragments, found in gluten (in grains) and in casein (in
milk) that look and act just like the narcotic known as morphine. Hence, while a gluten-free diet is essential for management of celiac
disease, only 50% are able to stick with it, even when they know their health risks. Supplemental to the authors' comprehensive advice
about nutrition, support groups etc., I would suggest that, after reading Jacquelyn Rogers' book, You Can Stop - whether you are a smoker or
not - you will be able to quit just about anything addictive, including gluten foods.
MSG CONNECTION: There seems to be overlap in msg-free and gluten-free diets. Either substance may be found "hidden" in hydrolyzed
plant/vegetable protein, textured plant/vegetable protein, soy sauce, barley malt, stock cubes etc. They write that gluten can even be
found "hidden" in msg (monosodium glutamate).
What’s Really in a Lot of ‘Healthy’ Foods
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The Fine Print: What's Really in a Lot of 'Healthy' Foods ,MAY 5, 2009, Wall Street Journal
A lot of Americans think they're eating a healthy diet these days. But it's easy to be fooled by our assumptions and the ways that food
manufacturers play on them.
Take chicken. The average American eats about 90 pounds of it a year, more than twice as much as in the 1970s, part of the switch to lower-fat,
lower-cholesterol meat proteins. But roughly one-third of the fresh chicken sold in the U.S. is "plumped" with water, salt and sometimes a seaweed
extract called carrageenan that helps it retain the added water. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says chicken processed this way can still be
labeled "all natural" or "100% natural" because those are all natural ingredients, even though they aren't naturally found in chicken.
Producers must mention the added ingredients on the package -- but the lettering can be small: just one-third the size of the largest letter in the
product's name. If you're trying to watch your sodium to cut your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, it pays to check the Nutrition
Facts label. Untreated chicken has about 45 to 60 mgs of sodium per four-ounce serving. So-called enhanced or "plumped" chicken has between
200 and 400 mgs of sodium per serving, almost as much as a serving of fast-food french fries.
Adding salt water became widespread when big discount stores began selling groceries and wanted to sell chicken at uniform weights and prices.
Plumping packaged chicken helps even out the weight. But that means consumers are paying for added salt water at chicken prices -- an estimated
$2 billion worth every year, according to the Truthful Labeling Coalition, a group of chicken producers that don't enhance their products.
Makers of enhanced chicken, including some of the biggest U.S. producers, say many consumers prefer it in blind taste tests and that it stays
moister. Ray Atkinson, a spokesman for Pilgrim's Pride, says the company sells both enhanced and unenhanced chicken because consumers ask
for it. He also notes that even at 330 mg of sodium, the enhanced chicken qualifies for the American Heart Association's mark of approval.
A survey released this week from Foster Farms, a member of the Truthful Labeling Coalition, found that 63% of consumers are unaware of the
practice, and 82% believe that salt-water-injected chicken shouldn't carry the all-natural label. The telephone survey polled 1,000 consumers on the
West Coast.
Here are some other foods that may not be as healthy as they appear.
Salt substitutes. If you're trying to cut down on salt, check with your doctor before you start using a salt substitute. Most contain potassium chloride,
which can exacerbate kidney problems and interact badly with some heart and liver medications.
Artificial Sweeteners. Sugar-free gum, mint and candy have fewer calories and are better for your teeth. But they frequently contain sorbitol, a plant
extract that isn't completely absorbed by the body and works as a natural laxative. Consuming a single pack of gum or mints can cause bloating,
flatulence, stomach pains and diarrhea in people who are sensitive to it. Some diabetics find that such sugar alcohols, which are sweet but have
few calories, can raise their blood sugar. Others include maltitol and xylitol.
Trans fat. There's been a remarkable reduction in these artery-cloggers in processed foods recently. But manufacturers are allowed to round down:
Products labeled zero grams of trans fat can have up to 0.49 gram of fat per serving. You could still be consuming significant amounts of trans fat,
"especially when the serving size is unrealistic," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutritionist and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a
nonprofit professional organization. If the ingredients include partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil or shortening, a product isn't completely
trans-fat free. And it may have considerable saturated fat as well.
The same rounding principle applies to zero calories, fat and carbohydrates. Walden Farms, which advertises a line of dips, spreads and dressings
as "Fat Free, Sugar Free and Calorie Free," says its products do have trace calories and up to 0.49 gram of fat and carbohydrates per serving.
"Wheat bread." This is a meaningless term, since almost all bread is made with wheat. Some manufacturers add to the illusion by using a brown
wrapper or darkening bread with brown sugar or molasses. The more healthful stuff is whole wheat, which includes the outer bran and the wheat
germ inside, good sources of nutrients and fiber. Check the ingredients. If the first one listed is "enriched wheat flour," you aren't getting much
whole grain.
A few bread makers are still displaying the USDA's old Food Pyramid on their packages -- the one that recommended six to 11 servings of bread or
pasta a day. That's been replaced by a more individualized pyramid that recommends only six carbohydrate servings, three of which should be
whole grains.
Fiber. Companies are adding fiber to all kinds of products -- including yogurt, ice cream and beverages. In many cases, the added fiber comes from
purified powders, not the kind of fiber found in whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits. The latter have been shown to lower cholesterol, reduce
the risk of diabetes and heart disease and may cut the risk of colon cancer. But there isn't much evidence that "isolated" fibers like inulin,
maltodextrin, oat fiber and polydextrose have the same effect, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumeradvocacy group. The Nutrition Facts label doesn't differentiate between the kind of fiber counted, so check the ingredients.
"The added fiber is probably better than nothing, but it's not as good as fiber from natural sources like fruits, vegetables and whole grains," says
CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson.
Yogurt. The yogurt aisle is dizzy these days with products that promise to reduce your cholesterol, control your blood pressure, protect your
digestive health or boost your immune system. In many cases, it's a single ingredient that provides the benefit, and you can find much more of it in
other sources. For example, Promise activ SuperShots say they "Help Control Blood Pressure" thanks to 350 mgs of potassium. There's much
more potassium in a banana, a cup of spinach or a baked potato. DanActive probiotic dairy drink's immunity-boosting claims stem from its L. casei
Immunitas active culture. There's lots of research interest in such probiotics, but for now, the marketing is ahead of the science. The friendly
bacteria in DanActive has mainly been shown to fight diarrhea in people taking antibiotics.
Super water. The Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Coca-Cola Co. earlier this year over claims on its VitaminWater beverages. The
center argued that the drinks -- with names like "defense," "rescue," "energy" and "endurance" -- are mainly sugar water with 125 calories per
bottle. Coke called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said its VitaminWater brands are properly labeled. "Consumers today are savvy, they are educated
and they are looking for more from their beverages than simply hydration," said Coke spokesman Scott Williamson.
Government surveys show that most Americans aren't deficient in many of the vitamins supplied in these drinks. If you consume more than you
need, the excess gets excreted.
Omega 3. Many foods are adding these essential fatty acids, said to cut the risk of heart disease, cancer and arthritis and help promote brain
health. But you can get a lot more from natural foods. You'd need to drink 45 eight-ounce glasses of milk that is fortified with 32 mgs of omega 3 to
get as much of these fatty acids as you get in a three-ounce serving of salmon.
Will any of the products mentioned here hurt you? No, but they may not help you as much as manufacturers would like you to think. "Try to buy
foods as close to their natural state as possible," says Ms. Taub-Dix.