Jo Robinson

As you will see, the products from pastured animals are ideal for human health. Very similar to wild game, they contain the amounts and kinds of nutrients that our bodies "expect" to be fed. We are genetically programmed to thrive on these natural foods.  The research suggests that switching to grassfed products could reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer!

Products from pastured animals are better for human health in a number of important ways.  First of all, the meat from pastured animals is lower in total fat than the meat from animals fattened in a feedlot.  For example, a sirloin steak from a grassfed steer has about one half to one third as much fat as a similar cut from a grain fed steer.  In fact, grassfed meat has about the same fat content as skinless chicken or wild deer or elk.1   When meat is this lean, it actually lowers your LDL cholesterol levels.  Because grassfed meat is so lean, 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.)  A 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished steer has almost 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 grassfed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year* without requiring any willpower or change in eating habits.  If everything else in your diet remains constant, you'll lose about six pounds a year.  If all Americans switched to grassfed meat, our national epidemic of obesity would begin to diminish.  Extra Omega-3s:  Although grassfed meat is low in total fat and "bad" fat (including saturated fat), it gives you from two to six times more of a family of fats called "omega-3 fatty acids." Arrest." JAMA 274(17): 1363-1367.  Omega-3s 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.

Omega-3s are essential for your brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less likely to be afflicted with depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's disease.  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. 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   Furthermore, they may enhance the response to chemotherapy.
Omega-3s are most 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 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.  (Data from Duckett, S. K., D. G. Wagner, L. D. Yates, H. G. Dolezal, and S. G. May. "Effects of Time on Feed on Beef Nutrient Composition." J Anim Sci 71, no. 8 (1993):2079-88.  When chickens are housed indoors and deprived of greens, their meat and eggs also become artificially low in omega3s.10   Eggs from pastured hens can contain as much as 20 times more omega-3s than eggs from factory hens.  Switching our livestock from their natural diet of grass to grain is one of the reasons our modern diet is deficient in these essential fats.  It has been estimated that only 40 percent of Americans consume a sufficient supply of these nutrients.  Twenty percent have levels so low that they cannot be detected. Switching to grassfed animal products is one way to restore this vital nutrient to your diet.
 

From Why Grassfed is Best by Jo Robinson
www.eatwild.com

Jo Robinson is a New York Times bestselling author. To learn more about the health benefits of grassfed products and to purchase her books, Why Grassfed Is Best! or The Omega Diet, go to www.eatwild.com.

[1] For more information about essential fatty acid balance, visit the following site: http://www.flax.com/newlibrary/ESSENT.html  which contains summaries of a large number of published studies about omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Or refer to The Omega Diet, a book I co-authored with internationally acclaimed fatty acid expert, Dr. Artemis Simopoulos. The Omega Diet has 24 pages of pertinent scientific references.
[2] The data comes from: 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.
[3] Jensen, S. K., A. K. Johannsen, et al. (1999). "Quantitative secretion and maximal secretion capacity of retinol, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol into cows' milk." J Dairy Res 66(4): 511-22.