A DIETITIAN'S GUIDE TO CONSCIOUS EATING, PART 2 - BEEF
A Dietitian's Guide to Conscious Eating
Part 2 - Beef
This is a continuation of my previous blog post on EGGS. Check it out here if you haven’t read it.
If you choose to be an omnivore (you eat meat, chicken and/or fish), it is important to consider the animals’ environment and diet of the meat we purchase for consumption. What did your food EAT ?
Conventional beef:
If you shop at the grocery store or Costco, you will be consuming meat that was raised/produced in Canada and the US. Feedlots in the US are considered CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feed Operations), while in Canada they are considered ILO’s (Intensive Livestock Operations). Some government officials have argued that Canada does not have factory farms, however, advocacy groups argue that “not only does factory farming exist in Canada, it is an essential feature of our contemporary mass-production agricultural system. If not for ILO’s, Canada would not be able to produce the 800 million land animals annually.” While small farms do exist in Canada, they are not the norm.
The diet of beef cattle is mainly low quality barley and corn, as well as soybean or canola meal, to increase the protein content and bring them their target weight up quickly for slaughter. It takes 7 pounds of grain to gain one pound of meat and these cattle can be gaining up to 3 pounds a day... You can do the math on how much grain that is!! All four of these foods have a high omega 6 content, not to mention a high amount of pesticides that was used in the grain growing process. These pesticides are stored in the animal fat tissue.
In Canada, factory farmed beef cattle (not milking cattle) are given treatment of growth hormone for beef production.
Antibiotics are used as medicines for farmers to treat sick animals, prevent disease and promote growth. Antibiotics are approved for use in beef and dairy cattle, chickens, laying hens, turkeys, pork and fish. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are fed to livestock. Factory farmed animals are given a daily dose of antibiotics, which may not be to treat or prevent illness, but in sub therapeutic amounts, acts as a growth promoter.
An article put out in 2009 on BeyongFactoryFarming.org emphasized their stance, along with the National Farmers Union and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, to the federal government to phase out the use of sub-therapeutic antibiotics in livestock production in Canada. As per the article, this practice “jeopardizes the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating human illness, promotes the development of resistant microbes and enables industrial operations to raise livestock in otherwise untenable conditions.”
For over 50 years, antibiotics have been utilized in livestock production and incorporated into animal feed to prevent disease and promote growth. In the United States alone, more than 25 million pounds of antibiotics and related drugs are administered annually to animals for non-therapeutic reasons – more than eight times the 3 million pounds used to treat disease in humans. Researchers estimate anywhere from 25 to 75 percent of these antibiotics are released into the environment, many of which are the same as those prescribed to treat human and animal diseases. This overuse has led to a worsening development of bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics. These resistant bacteria make treatment of sick humans and animals more difficult, resulting in fewer effective antibiotics to prevent and treat infections. Unfortunately, I did not find any other articles in my search, past 2009, regarding any advancements in this area.
Non - conventional / Organic methods:
Grass-fed cattle lead a happy and healthy life in their natural habitat. These cows eat the food that they would in the wild. This more natural lifestyle reduces the risk of infection and sickness and thus, the animals require far less antibiotic treatment. It takes much more time for grass fed farmers to raise their animals healthfully and ethically, and so naturally the price tag will be higher. The grass diet also results in increased levels of Omega 3s and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which both have anti-tumor and anti-cancerous properties and improve cardiovascular health.
Studies have shown that an animal’s diet can have an impact on the nutritional content of the meat on the consumer’s table. Grass-fed meat has been shown to contain less fat, more beneficial fatty acids, more vitamins, and to be a good source of a variety of nutrients. According to a study published in the Journal of Animal Science in 2009, eating grass-fed beef provides many benefits to consumers.
- Higher in beta-carotene - converts to Vitamin E in the body, which supports good eye health.
- Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) - meat from grass fed cattle contains as much as 4 times higher vitamin E levels than feedlot cattle.
- Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin - improves nerve, muscle, and heart function
- Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
- Higher in total omega-3s which are fats that are essential to human health. 60 percent of the fatty acids in grass is omega-3, which is formed in the chloroplasts of green leaves. Grass-fed cattle can contain as much as 2-4 times more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed animals.
- A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84). We typically eat a diet of a high ratio of omega 6 to omega 3’s, which has been linked to increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, allergies, depression, obesity, and autoimmune disorders. A ratio of 4:1 or lower is considered healthy, our typical North American diet is 10-15:1. Grass fed beef contain a 2:1 ratio.
- Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA). Meat from grass-fed animals is the richest known source of CLA; 2-5 times more than feedlot cattle. CLA (cis-9 trans 11) has been shown to reduce cancers.
- Lower saturated fats is linked with reduced risk for heart disease
- Lower total fat – Meat from grass-fed cattle is much lower in fat, and therefore lower in calories. A 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished animal has almost 100 fewer calories than the same sized-piece from a grain-fed animal. If, like the average American, you eat about 67 pounds of beef a year, switch to grass-fed beef and you’ll save nearly 18,000 calories a year.
Another resounding benefit of eating grass-fed beef is that you will have a much gentler impact on the environment. It is also very important to support local farmers in both their small businesses and mission to treat animals with respect. These are all phenomenal reasons to support a diet lower in animal products OR choose meats that are raised in more sustainable agricultural conditions.
If you are considering making a change to your meat purchasing methods, feel free to contact me for assistance or advice as I have shopped around and am aware of what’s available.
Resources
FactoryFarmsCollective.ca
Organic.org
Think you can add something to our team?
Send us your resume using the button below!
NOMINATE A MEMBER FOR MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Sign up to our newsletter
We will get back to you as soon as possible
Please try again later
All Rights Reserved | The Fitness Firm