|
Health benefits The bovine species is a ruminant with four stomachs. They are genetically designed to digest green forages, so grass finishing gives beef a number of healthy aspects as compared to grain fed beef. Jo Robinson’s books‘WHY GRASSFED IS BEST’ and ‘PASTURE PERFECT” and her website www.eatwild.com reports on the health advantages of grass finishing. Omega 3 –Grass fed beef has a much higher ratio of Omega 3 “good fats” to Omega 6 “bad fats” of 0.6 compared to the grain fed beef ratio of 0.25. This higher percentage of Omega 3 is nourishing for body and mind, keeps the skin supple, reduces weight, guards against heart attacks and cancer. Other observations: a diet with an adequate amount of omega-3 fatty acids may lower the incidence of mental disorders including depression, aggressive behavior, attention deficit disorder (ADD). Whereas the high proportion of Omega 6 in grain fed beef is associated with bad cholesterol. CLA – Grass finished beef also has a high content of conjugated linoleic acid or CLA. This fat is becoming well known for controlling weight. It appears to block an enzyme ‘lipoprotein lipase’ that moves fat from the blood into the body’s fat cells. There are also indications of reduced cancer and diabetes from diets high in CLA. Grass-finished meat has been found to be up to 71% higher in CLA than the grain-finished feedlot counterpart. Beta-carotene from the grass is converted to vitamin A in the body. It is linked with a lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease and is important for normal vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division and cell differentiation. Vitamin E – a naturally occurring antioxidant in grass-fed meat products Disease protection E-Coli – Jo Robinson points out that grassfed steers with low acidity in their stomachs do not harbor the dangerous strains of E-coli. Grain fed steers have high stomach acidity and their E-coli strain can propagate in the human stomach with its equally high acidity. BSE - Another safety factor is that 100% grass feed precludes BSE (Mad Cow Disease) that is linked to the practice of using animal by-products in feed. Go to www.eatwild.com for more interesting information about grass finished beef. You can read about the health benefits of products from pasture-raised animals and read current News. |
Health Benefits
Quality of Grass Finished Beef
|