Two Incredible Health Foods and Why to Avoid the “Feed lot” Pyramid! July 27, 2010

Posted by fitmontclair in Fat Loss, Fitness in Montclair, Health & Exercise, Injury Prevention, Nutrition, Organic Food & Farming, Women's Health.
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Hi Everyone,

I hope you have been enjoying your summer! I have been occupied with  writing for several magazines & newsletters (all of which will have links here in the upcoming weeks); developing new training courses, and elevating my skills & knowledge by training with REAL WORLD professionals who teach what is NOT taught in Universities; as Mark Twain wrote ” Never let your schooling get in the way of your education!”.

As many of you know my computer has recently been attacked by Spyware,  so if you have not been receiving an e-mail alert about NEW blog posts it is because your e-mail address was lost. If you wish to receive e-mail updates just send me an e-mail or post a comment at the blog.

As you will soon see I have been busy doing research into 2 very important food sources that have received bad press over the recent years, Beef & Eggs – Here you will learn the truth that both are EXCELLENT health foods BUT ONLY if you choose the right sources (HINT: It’s not the GARBAGE that is sold in the local supermarkets!!)

Before we get into the EXTENSIVE data on the health benefits of  Beef & Eggs you must understand that the Food Pyramid is NOT healthy, it was designed to sell poor quality grains, cereals & starches of the LARGE corporations who make HUGE political contributions – it has NOTHING to do with health & fitness, but it is a MAIN cause of the rise of Type II diabetes in the U.S. (as well as increases in heart disease, obesity, dementia, and Alzheimer’s ) In fact REAL doctors & scientists call the Food Pyramid the “Feed Lot” Pyramid” because it promotes the largest portion of your daily caloric intake from grain – How do you fatten up cattle, feed them grain, corn, and soy – How do fatten up humans – THE SAME WAY, LOTS OF GRAIN, CORN, AND SOY!! (have you looked at any children lately)

Here are 2 VERY important facts to consider – Humans existed for hundreds of thousands of years WITHOUT processed grains etc. If you look at any: Nutritional, Medical, Scientific text book or study there are 2 words you NEVER SEE TOGETHER: Essential Carbohydrates! There are Essential: Vitamins, Minerals, Fats, and Proteins (i.e. Amino Acids) – THERE ARE NO ESSENTIAL CARBOHYDRATES, THEY DO NOT EXIST!! (Thanks to Mauro Di Pasquale, M.D. World-Champion weightlifter and avid low-carb dieter for that info!) The human being was designed to function WITHOUT carbohydrates – look up the term : GLUCONEOGENESIS – It is how the body MAKES its own carbohydrates out of FAT and PROTEIN!!! (Gluco = sugar, Neo = new, Genesis = fomation)

What do you think happened in primitive cultures when the ground froze and there were no plants – The people ate ANIMAL MEAT, 1lb of fresh organic animal meat has the equivalent of 5lbs of organic vegetable matter (because wild animals eat mostly plants and grass). What do you think traditional Eskimos lived on: Whale blubber, Seal meat, and Seaweed – and they have some the lowest rates of: diabetes, heart disease, and cancer – but remember these are the TRADITIONAL Eskimos not the ones that eat a modern western diet. The same with Native Americans, they were hunters, NOT farmers! -and they were extremely fit, athletic and often lived into their 80′s & 90′s with FULL function and health!

Before we  move onto the data on Beef  & Eggs, I just want to recommend what I feel is one of the all time best nutritional books ever written and should be THE GOLD STANDARD FOR ALL UNIVERSITY NUTRITION PROGRAMS (but it NEVER will be for it was written before the grain industry took over !) Did you know that the very first University Nutrition Degree program was funded by General Mills, so is it any wonder they promote grain consumption!

Nutrition & Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price – it is a detailed review of Dr. Price’s 20+ year trip around the world to study the effects of a so-called ” Modern Diet” on physical development, health, and disease in people. It has extensive photographic evidence and detailed studies of how processed food, white flour, table salt and of course white sugar have DEVASTATING  effects on growth & development, health, and disease rates in humans - READ IT IF YOU DARE!

Now on to Beef & Eggs, how is it 2 staples of human nutrition suddenly become the cause of illness and poor health for an entire nation- bad press and biased research performed on low quality products! Although the truth is slowly being revealed; The grain manufacturers, commercial beef industries, and factory farms are still trying to hide the facts and the need for organic meats and the dangers of grains!

Did you know that all the early cardiovascular disease research in relation to diet & nutrition was done on animals that are: NON-organic, raised in pens and treated with antibiotics and hormones, given corn & soy etc – SO IT IS NO WONDER THAT THESE STUDIES SHOW INCREASES IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE! There is a rule in organic farming: Diseased plants make sick animals which leads to sick & diseased people! You get diseased plants by dumping hundreds of thousands of pounds of: Pesticides, Herbicides, and Fungicides on crops!!! This is why you MUST eat organic foods especially: meats, poultry, eggs, dairy, and coffee – YOU CANNOT WASH OFF THE TOXINS BECAUSE THEY ARE INSIDE THE FOOD!!

First up: BEEF it is what really should be for dinner (as long as  it is free-range, grass fed, organic beef  and not the toxic crap in most supermarkets!)

For almost all of human history, there was only one way to raise animals: off the surrounding land. Cattle spent their lives years grazing on the indigenous local grasses to grow into strong, fully developed adults. Other grazing animals like goats, sheep and bison lived the same way—known as ruminants, these animals are designed to eat the grasses, plants and shrubs that grow naturally. Ranchers knew this and nurtured soil, water and plants for pastures that were alive with the high-quality grasses and legumes essential for healthy animal growth. No pesticides or chemicals were used, EVER!  Free to roam these lush, green pastures, animals were extremely healthy.

Today the reality is far different.

After World War II, big business found its way into our nation’s family farms, and the best practices developed over millennia all but disappeared. In the 1960s, the work of producing American meat shifted quickly to larger family farms and commercial feedlots thanks to new strategies for confining cattle and feeding them with high-starch grain diets. The largest of these commercial operations learned to efficiently crank out in excess of 100,000 head of cattle a year. Vast surpluses of corn, milo, wheat and soybean meal—produced in mass quantities thanks to petroleum-based fertilizers and subsidized by the government—further fueled the expansion of the cattle-feeding industry.

Now animals, many of which have never seen a blade of grass after weaning, 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 your local supermarket—and that it will consistently be inexpensive (it is this low quality, toxic meat that leads to disease in humans!)

But we are paying in other ways. And one need only look to Argentina to understand how. Though Argentina leads the world in per-capita red meat consumption, the country enjoys lower numbers in deaths-per-1000 of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Argentina has specialized in grass-fed beef production for centuries.

Forget everything you think you know about beef. It turns out that a lot of the health issues are triggered by an unnatural pH in a cow’s first stomach. The fermentation chamber that initiates what will ultimately be the critical balance of fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and enzymes that are essential for human nutrition, the first stomach must be healthy in order for an animal to produce healthy meat.

Forage-grazing animals have a healthy, highly-functioning pH of 7, which allows for an abundance of the essential fermentation bacteria that create high levels of CLA, omega-3s, branch-chain amino acids, vitamins and digestive enzymes. But even a small amount of grain can throw all this off: just 30 days on a grain diet can offset 200 days of grazing chemistry. (You must insist on not only grass-fed but GRASS-FINISHED beef!)

Unfortunately, when an animal lives on a heavy-starch grain diet, that healthy pH 7 suddenly plummets to a highly acidic pH 4. With this increase in acidity comes a different kind of fermentation bacteria: one that impedes the production of healthy fats like omega-3s and CLA and increases the level of omega-6s.

Another troubling side effect? Animals require daily doses of low-level, feed-grade antibiotics to allow their livers to cope with abnormal acidity. The less-than-perfect management system demands that grain-fed animals be given growth hormones to quickly fatten them in the race to harvest. But all this new weight doesn’t come in the form of healthy, lean muscle. With less exercise than their pasture-raised, forage-fed counterparts, grain-fed animals develop the heavier, marbled fat mass that is the hallmark of a high-carbohydrate, low-fiber diet.

It’s no wonder most beef isn’t good for you: the ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 approach 20 to1, CLA and vitamin levels are minimal, and it’s full of antibiotics and hormones. This is why we’ve all been told for years to eat chicken and fish to offset our beef consumption. What follows is a compilation of various published research studies on the health effects of grass-fed animals:

Summary of Important Health Benefits of Grass-fed Meats:

(Note: Since a lot of this info may seem “too good to be true” and go against what “so-called” nutrition experts preach – I have included the full scientific references at the end of the post – Gordon)

Lower in Fat and Calories. There are a number of nutritional differences between the meat of pasture-raised and feedlot-raised animals. To begin with, 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. In fact, as you can see by the graph below, 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]

Data from J. Animal Sci 80(5):1202-11.

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 6-ounce steak from a grain-fed steer. If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to lean grass-fed 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 grass-fed meat, our national epidemic of obesity might diminish.

Extra Omega-3s. Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain- fed 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 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 below illustrates this steady decline.

Data from: J Animal Sci (1993) 71(8):2079-88.

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.[9] Switching to the meat, milk, and dairy products of grass-fed animals is one way to restore this vital nutrient to your diet.

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.[10] (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. [11] 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.[12] 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.

Two new studies suggest that grass-fed meat and dairy products may reduce the risk of breast cancer:

CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) 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. In Finland, researchers measured CLA levels in the serum of women with and without breast cancer. Those women with the most CLA had a significantly lower risk of the disease. Meanwhile, French researchers measured CLA levels in the breast tissues of 360 women. Once again, the women with the most CLA had the lowest risk of cancer. In fact, the women with the most CLA had a staggering 74% lower risk of breast cancer than the women with the least CLA.

The most natural and effective way to increase your intake of CLA is to eat the meat and dairy products of grass-fed animals.

Vitamin E. In addition to being higher in omega-3s and CLA, meat from grassfed animals is also higher in vitamin E. The graph below 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. [13]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.

Ten top reasons for Grass-Fed Beef:

Grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. The 2009 study was a joint effort between the USDA and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina. Compared with grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef was:

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

S.K. Duckett et al, Journal of Animal Science, (published online) June 2009, “Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: III. Tissue proximate, fatty acid, vitamin and cholesterol content.”

NOT only  the USA: Grass-fed Beef Clearly Superior, Says New German and Canadian study

Yet another study shows that grass-fed meat is nutritionally superior to feedlot meat. This newest study examined the differences in fat content between four breeds of cattle that were either 1) raised on pasture or 2) given grain and other feedstuff in a feedlot.

As in previous research, the results showed that meat from cattle raised on pasture had much healthier fats. The researchers concluded that grass-fed meat is “clearly superior” and “remarkably beneficial.”  They stated that grass-fed meat “should be promoted as an important part of a healthy balanced diet.” Read the study summary.

[Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, June 2008, 56:4775-4782.]

Now if the healthy, pastured cows are eating only grass, what are the feed-lot cows eating

here’s a new term you need to know: “by-product feedstuffs”

Fresh pasture and dried grasses are the natural diet of all ruminant animals. In factory farms, animals are switched to an unnatural diet based on corn and soy. But corn and soy are not the only ingredients in their “balanced rations.” Many large-scale dairy farmers and feedlot operators save money by feeding the cows “by-product feedstuffs” as well. In general, this means waste products from the manufacture of human food. In particular, it can mean sterilized city garbage, candy, bubble gum, floor sweepings from plants that manufacture animal food, bakery, potato wastes or a scientific blend of pasta and candy.

Here are some of the “by-product feedstuffs commonly used in dairy cattle diets in the Upper Midwest.”*

• Candy. Candy products are available through a number of distributors and sometimes directly from smaller plants… They are sometimes fed in their wrappers…. Candies, such as gummy bears, lemon drops or gum drops are high in sugar content.
• Bakery Wastes. Stale bread and other pastry products from stores or bakeries can be fed to dairy cattle in limited amounts. These products are sometimes fed as received without drying or even removal of the wrappers.
• Potato Waste is available in potato processing areas, and includes cull potatoes, French fries and potato chips. Cull fresh potatoes that are not frozen, rotten, or sprouted can be fed to cows either whole or chopped. Potato waste straight from a processing plant may contain varying amounts of inedible or rotten potatoes. French fries and chips contain fats or oils from frying operations.
• Starch. Unheated starch is available from some candy manufacturers and sometimes may contain pieces of candy.
• Pasta is available from pasta plants and some ingredient distributors as straight pasta or in blends with other ingredients, such as candy.

*This list is excerpted from “By-Product Feedstuffs in Dairy Cattle Diets in the Upper Midwest,” published in 2008 by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Here is some more of the nutritious diet of Feed-lot cattle: “Cattle fattened on stale gummy bears”

Some commercial feedlots feed stale candy to cattle in an effort to reduce costs. According to a recent review, milk chocolate and candy “are often economical sources of nutrients, particularly fat. They may be high in sugar and/or fat content. Milk chocolate and candy may contain 48% and 22% fat, respectively. They are sometimes fed in their wrappers. Candies, such as cull gummy bears, lemon drops, or gum drops are high in sugar content.” The article recommends that “upper feeding limits for candy or candy blends and chocolate are 5 and 2 lb. per cow per day, respectively.”

As long as beef producers are not accountable for the ultimate nutritional value of the meat, they will continue to formulate feedlot diets on a least cost basis and American consumers will continue to eat meat that is artificially high in fat and low in vitamin E, beta carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, and CLA.

["By-Product Feedstuffs in Dairy Cattle Diets in the Upper Midwest." Randy D. Shaver, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Extension Nutritionist, Department of Dairy Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin]

So there you have it – the truth about BEEF!

Next post I will tell you the truth about EGGS (I think I scared you enough for 1 week!)

For local residents who want high quality beef and more please visit www.simplygrazin.com (Note some local Whole Foods stores carry 100% Grass-fed Organic Beef from Simply Grazin Farm)

To find local organic farms in your area please visit the Weston A. Price Foundation

If you would like a local door to door delivery service for the highest quality foods please e-mail me and I can refer you to a great  farm service I have been using (Sorry NJ only!)

Thanks for reading and remember: Support your local Organic Farmers!!

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease” -Thomas A. Edison

Gordon

ADVANCED FITNESS CONCEPTS

Using Science to Maximize Health & Performance

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. A collaboration with Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos,  The book 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. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.