Have You Tried Grass-Fed Beef?
We’ve all heard about grass-fed beef but have you tried it? Check out some of these great reasons why grass-fed beef is some of the healthiest proteins out there!
Here are a few reasons to eat grass-fed beef!
Unfortunately, not all beef is made equal — which means that the beef you’re putting in your body might have pesticides, synthetic growth hormones, toxins from moldy feed, carbon monoxide, and a whole bunch of other junk you’d never know about just from looking at it.
If you check out the Bulletproof Diet Roadmap (which you can download for free!), you’ll see that beef is among the top recommended foods to maximize your health. The only caveat is that it must be grass-fed.
Whether we’re talking about beef, chicken, eggs or any other animal byproduct, grass-fed beats grain-fed by a mile every time.
Now, I’m not making this claim on a whim — there’s a science to back it up! The underlying principle of the Bulletproof Diet is very simple: food selection (and elimination) based on what contains the most nutrients and the least amount of toxins.
Here are science-backed reasons to swap out that grain-fed beef for grass-fed:
1. Grass-fed beef improves brain function and helps you lose weight
Beef contains high levels of omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), both essential fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential component of nerve tissue. They modify how the body responds to stress and control various other metabolic processes. CLA is a naturally occurring trans-fatty acid that improves brain function, causes weight loss, and reduces your risk of cancer.
This 2006 study measured the fatty acid composition of grass-fed versus grain-fed meat. Researchers compared the fatty acid compositions of three kinds of feeding: grains, “by-product feedstuff” and grass-fed.
In a nutshell, the results were blatantly in favor of grass-fed beef. Just 80 days of grain feeding was enough to destroy the omega-3 content of the beef. CLA content dropped in the same amount of time.
The longer the animals ate grains, the more the quality of the meat decreased.
2. Grass-fed beef has more antioxidants, more nutrients, and even more flavor!
Another study published in 2008 measured carotenoids, the total amount of fat and the types of fat, including omega-3, omega-6, cholesterol (this isn’t a fat, but it’s still important), total saturated fat, CLA, and trans-vaccenic acid (TVA).
In this study, the nutrient content of the grass-fed meat was analyzed and compared to the grain-fed meat.
The results showed that the grass-fed meat had higher levels of carotenoids, making the fat appear yellow. Yellow fat (like grass-fed butter) is a sign of high nutrient density. When you’re cooking grass-fed meat, you’ll notice that the fat is a yellowish color. More carotenoids usually mean more antioxidants, more nutrients, and more flavor.
While both types of meat were considered lean, the real difference was the type of fat in each meal. The grass-fed meat was higher in saturated fat, omega-3’s, CLA, and TVA.
The study showed that grass-fed meat had the same amount of omega-6 fatty acids, yet far more omega-3s. This means grass-fed meat has a better ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Grass-fed beef prevents diseases
Expanding on the results of the last study, one of the most important health markers is your omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio. The Bulletproof Diet recommends keeping the ratio around 1:1 and making sure the omega-6 you eat is mostly uncooked.
In Western diets, the ratio is estimated to be 15:1, so we have a lot of work to do! Along with other dietary measures, consuming grass-fed meat will help improve this ratio.
As this study shows, the reason why this ratio is so important is that a very high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as is found in today’s Western diets, promotes the development of cancers as well as inflammatory, cardiovascular, and autoimmune diseases. On the flip side, a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio actually prevents these health issues.
Wrap-Up
After reading and understanding all of the science-backed health benefits of consuming grass-fed beef, it’s a no-brainer why it is a core component of the Bulletproof Diet.
By choosing to eat grass-fed meat, you aren’t consuming a luxury item – you’re eating real meat.
Processed grain-fed meat has the wrong fatty acids, contains hormones that will contribute to making you fat, and usually has mycotoxins (nasty biotoxins formed by mold in cattle food and meat processing).
Choosing grass-fed meat means you’re putting your health first and is one of the reasons the Bulletproof Diet works.
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