Friday, April 18, 2008
Healthy cows - Seven Good Reasons to Eat Only Grass-Fed Beef

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Ever since I wrote Living the Low Carb Life in 2004, I've been asked to defend my statement that meat is a healthy food. Truth be told, it's a hard statement to defend these days -- but not because meat is inherently unhealthy.

It's because the kind of meat most people eat is poisoned with antibiotics, steroids, and hormones -- and just as bad -- comes from feedlot farms where the animals are treated horrendously. They're also fed an unnatural diet of grain and have a high level of inflammation-causing omega-6 fats in their meat that is passed on to consumers.

But there's a solution: buy (and eat) only grass-fed meat. Yes, it's more expensive (just eat less!) -- but grass-fed cattle produce a whole different kind of meat -- and it's actually good for you!

Here are my top seven reasons to eat only grass (pasture) raised beef.

1. No antiobiotics added. Antibiotics are routinely given to cattle in factory farms to help manage the problems brought on by their highly concentrated grain diets and living conditions.
2. No steroids or growth hormones. Steroids or bovine growth hormone are routinely given to commercial beef to speed up growth and weight gain for faster "finishing" times. These hormones actually make it into your body and have been implicated in a number of health problems including acne.
3. Healthy omega-3 fats. When cattle are fed their normal diet of pasture grass, their fat is different from that of their grain-fed factory farmed bretheren -- and it contains way more healthy omega-3 fats.
4. Healthy, cancer-fighting CLA (conjugated linolenic acid). This cancer-fighting fat is normally made in the chambers of the bovine stomach. Grass-fed animals are a great source of CLA; grainfed factory-farmed animals have next to none due to the high acidity of their stomachs.
5. Animals treated as humanely as possible to minimize stress and trauma. Organic farms, like US Wellness Meats for example, care deeply about the quality of lives of their animals.
6. Fed no contaminated animal by-product feed. Serious, organic farmers raising cows on pasture simply don't feed their cattle animal by-products. This reduces or eliminates the risk of contamination and Mad Cow Disease.
7. Minimal risk of E. coli. E. coli thrive in an acid environment and grain-fed beef have a much higher level of acidity in their stomachs. Pasture-fed beef do not have an internal environment that's hospitable to E. coli.

Meat can be a perfectly healthy food, especially so when it's combined with high vegetable intake. The key to the health of the animals we eat is their diet (and living conditions). Grass and pasture make for healthy cows which in turn makes for healthy meat. Anything else doesn't even come close.

It's worth noting that buffalo is almost always grass-fed, and is a good alternative to regular old supermarket beef.

[Ed. note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology and the author of five books including The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. His latest book is The Most Effective Cures on Earth.]

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"