Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Does red meat shorten your life?

There is a new study out that shows eating even moderate amounts of red meat regularly can shorten your life as much as 30%. So what does this really mean? What I would challenge is for the people who do these studies to do one that shows the effects of GRASS FED BEEF. That is what we SHOULD be eating, and yet many stores don't even carry grass fed beef. Some butchers I have asked have not even known the difference. Grain fed (i.e. corn) beef is not good for us OR the cow. Cows cannot digest corn so by that very fact they are given antibiotics so that the corn does not produce e.coli and they bleed internally. But corn fattens the cow and is a cheap GMO crop so they feed it to them anyways. Grass on the other hand is what cows normally eat and when they do, their bodies know how to digest it and in response, their meat has more of the right ratio of Omega's, the good fats our bodies need. So, if you are using meat from a standard grocery store, the news story may be true. However, if you find grass fed beef and use that as your red meat source, I venture a guess it will not have that detrimental effect on your health. The study also looked at hot dogs and such and the rise in cancer. Most standard hot dogs are filled with nitrites and nitrates which do in fact increase your risk of cancer. We use Applegate Farms hot dogs which are pure grass fed, organic beef with no nitrates or nitrites. If you wanted to make hot dogs back in the days of doing it yourself, that's what you get in Applegate Farms. I love them! Many hot dogs also have dairy or wheat in them as well, hidden in there so if you or your child are on a GFCF diet, those are additional concerns. The grass fed beef is certainly more expensive but if you don't spend money on feeding your body and preserving your health, you are not doing yourself any good. I have said it before, if you are trying to be healthier and want the biggest bang for your buck in terms of organic, going organic for your meat, dairy and eggs would be the first step. The other stuff can come later. The meats and dairy have higher concentrations of pesticides and antibiotics so you are really making an impact by going organic with these things. At this rate, our girls will be hitting puberty by 7. The effects of hormones are real and they are in most meats and dairy. Remember, we are what we eat and that applies to the animals that feed us! Now eating a whopper a day surely isn't going to do yourself any good, but in moderation organic grass fed beef can offer you benefits in the way of good, healthy omegas!

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