#34: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: Beef

00Angela00

By popular demand we're back again with 150 of the healthiest foods on earth. For those who are new I have attached at the bottom all previous posts. I will be posting a new food every day as time allows. All information is from the book by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth".

Yesterdays post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/74355--33-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Today #33: Grass-fed Beef

Intro: Beef is beef and carrots are carrots, right? Wrong, grasshopper. Whether your food is animal, vegetable, plant, fish, or fruit, where a food comes from, how it's raised (or grown), what it ate (or was fed), what soil it was grown on (or grazed on), how it is processed, prepared, and cooked (or not cooked ) is vitally important to its nutritional content and absolutely central to its effect on your health. Which brings us to beef.

* The natural diet of cattle is grass. It is absolutelu NOT grain. When a ruminant like a cow is taken off its natural diet of pasture and fattened on grain, it loses nutrients.

*According to one reputable source, grain-fed meat has only one-quarter as much vitamin E, one-eighth as much beta-carotene, and, probably most important, one-third as many omega-3 fatty acids. (This makes sense--grain has far fewer of these nutrient than fresh pasture!)

*Cattle that are primarily fed grass enhance their omega-3 content by 60 percent.

* A massive amount of research indicates that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and help prevent certain chronic diseases such as heart disease. The ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids in our dit is of enormous importance to our health.

* Ruminants like cows produce another very important fat called CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which has long been investigated for its anticancer activity as well as for its ability to REDUCE FAT ACCUMULATION, PARTICULARLY AROUND THE ABDOMEN (I thought you would like that one ;-).

* At least four studies have shown that grass-fed ruminant species produce two to three times more CLA than ruminants fed in confinement on grain diets.

* A final reason to choose grass-fed meat is that most grass farmers avoid the use of many of the chimicals, hormones, and antibodies that we'd like to keep out of our food. While they might now always be striving to reach the "organic" certification (they often use nitrogen fertililizers on their fields or may treat their animals with relatively benign medications), they nonetheless generally conform to the "spirit" or organic. And feeding a cow "organic" grain means nothing, as far as I'm concerned, except that he was fed a less-contaminated version of a food he shouldn't be eating int he first place.

* Read above: Given a choice between organice and grass fed, I'll go with grass fed every time ... of course if I can get both, I'll take them.

* Though the nutrient composition of been depends somewhat ont he cut of the meat, all beef is a great source of protein, a good source of B vitamines--especially B12-- and a good source of heme iron, the most absorbable kind of iron you can get from food.

* About half of the fat in beef is heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. Beef is also very high in zinc, with almost any kind of 3 ounce portion of beef.

* If you're interested in learning more about grass farming and its benefits to your health, a great place to start is www.eatwild.com. Another is the Weston A Price Foundation (www.westonaprice.org). Also highly recommended: the excellent book by Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma

WORTH KNOWING:

The original "energy bar" was a food called pemmican, which was developed by the indians and other indigenous cultures like the inuit in Greenland. It's high-energy foodt hat can be transported easily and lasts for many months. Meat from buffalo--or occasionally moost and caribou--was dried, thand pounded into a find texture and mixed with animal fat and sometimes berries. This created a high-calorie, highly nutritious food for traveling. Since the meat was all wild game and by definition "pasture" fed, it was as healthy as the day is long. i eat pemmican as a snack all the time. It's made my US Wellness Meats

For previous posts:

Vegetables:
ARTICHOKES: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57017--1-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
ARUGULA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58426--14-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
ASPARAGUS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60854--27-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Grains:
OATMEAL: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57180--2-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
QUINOA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58555--15-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Beans and Legumes:
BEANS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57278--3-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
GARBANZO BEANS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58671--16-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
GREEN PEAS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61075--28-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Fruits:
APPLES: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57482--4-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
APRICOTS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58800--17-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
AVACADOS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61180--29-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
BANANAS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/74093-back-again-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth-30

Nuts, Seeds, and Nut butters
ALMONDS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57516--5-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
BRAZIL NUTS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58921--18-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
CASHEWS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/74139--31-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Soy Foods:
THE TRUTH ABOUT SOY: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57520-soy-not-as-good-as-you-think
EDAMAME: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57602--6-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
FERMENTED SOY: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/59006--19-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
NATTO: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/74266--32-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Dairy:
BUTTER/GHEE http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57689--7-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
CHEESE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/59395--20-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
ORGANIC MILK: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/74355--33-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Meat, Poultry, and Eggs
EGGS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57791--8-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
POULTRY: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/59548--21-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Fish and Seafood
CRUSTACEA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57940--9-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
MACKEREL: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60071--22-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth?page=1#posts-719366

Specialty Foods
BEE POLLEN: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58069--10-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
CHOCOLATE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60143--23-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Beverages:
ACAI JUICE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58196--11-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
COFFEE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60823--26-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
CRANBERRY JUICE: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60470--24-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Herbs, Spices, and Condiments
CARDAMOM: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58290--12-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
CINNAMON: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/60564--25-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

Oils
ALMOND OIL: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58381--13-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

00Angela00

for a similar post regarding chicken: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/59548--21-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

00Angela00

bump for the evening folks

jb_sweet_99

Well that's interesting to note isn't it? I don't think we have the option to choose here in Canada, at least not at the grocery store...we have one ground beef section and that's it, at least in my town anyway. I certainly would choose the grass fed option if I could though, seems like we're really missing out here. Makes a lot of sense!
Thanks Angela!!!

KatWood

Thanks for bringing these back. I've always found them very interesting and informative.

mdale2

If you're looking for grass fed options, you'll find them at Whole Foods or your local butcher shop / farmer's market. Also, check out eatwild.com to see if any local farms offer 1/4, 1/2, or whole cows for purchase. You can buy it online from La Cense beef (www.lacensebeef.com), US Wellness Meats (www.grasslandbeef.com), and Slanker's Meats (www.texasgrassfedbeef.com). Grass-fed beef is not common in the typical supermarket...

Many local butchers offer grass fed, grain finished (fatten before slaughter) beef. It's not quite as good, but works.