Why Grass-Fed Beef is Better and How To Find It
In a nutshell, commercial beef and poultry products are a disaster. They contain significant amounts of hormone, antibiotic and pesticide residues. In addition, the fat they contain is altered and harmful to our health. Cows should eat only grass, because when they are fed corn and other feeds, their bodies produce arachidonic acid, a fat that can cause heart disease and other degenerative and inflammatory disorders when consumed by humans.
In contrast, pastured (or grass-fed) beef has many health-enhancing properties. First of all, it is approximately 50% lower in fat and therefore it is lower in calories, a benefit for those trying to manage their weight. It also contains significant amounts of omega-3 oil, commonly associated with fish – though today’s farm-raised fish, including all Atlantic salmon on the market, do not contain omega-3 oil, just as commercial beef does not contain it.
Omega-3 oils, and especially the EPA and DHA forms found in wild cold-water fish and pastured cattle, have been found to protect against inflammation, depression, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and cancer. The average American’s diet is profoundly deficient in these oils. Pastured beef also contains another “good” fat, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), that has been found in recent research to help protect against cancer. For more information about the health benefits of grass-fed beef, visit www.eatwild.com. This website also provides a list of suppliers of pastured beef and organic poultry and eggs from around the country.
