Flat Belly Food #2

Flat-Belly Food #2:

Grass-fed beef or bison (NOT your typical grocery store beef!)

I know most people think that red meat is unhealthy for you, but that's because they don't understand how the health of the animal affects how healthy the meat is for your consumption. Keep this in mind -- "an unhealthy animal provides unhealthy meat, but a healthy animal provides healthy meat". Archaeologists and Anthropologists know that humans have ALWAYS been omnivores dating back at least 1.9 million years, so there’s nothing inherently unhealthy about meat if you choose the right sources.

Typical beef or bison that you see at the grocery store is raised on grains… mostly corn, and sometimes soy too. Soy and corn are NOT the natural diet of cattle or bison, and therefore changes the chemical balance of fats and other nutrients in

Eat Your Way Lean! By: Mike Geary 13

the beef or bison. Cattle are meant in nature to solely eat grass and forage, so the practice of feeding cattle grains causes digestive system problems in the cattle (one of the main reasons for e-coli), and makes the cattle sick, which most times requires the use of antiobiotics in the cattle.

Problems with e-coli and other sickness are not typically a problem in cattle that eat solely grass and other forage.

Grain-fed beef and bison is also typically WAY too high in omega-6 fatty acids and WAY too low in omega-3 fatty acids from the distorted nutrition ratios in their feed.

On the other hand, grass-fed beef from cattle and buffalo (or bison) that were raised on the type of natural foods that they were meant to eat in nature (grass and other forage), have much higher levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and lower levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids (that most people already eat way too much of) compared to grain fed beef or bison.

Grass fed meats also typically contain up to 3 times the Vitamin E as in grain fed meats…yet another reason to choose grass-fed instead of typical beef.

Not only that, but grass-fed meat from healthy cattle or bison also contain a special healthy fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in MUCH higher levels than grainfed meat. In fact, when cattle are fed mostly grains instead of grass, the healthy CLA fat almost entirely disappears from the meat.

CLA has been proven in scientific studies in recent years to help in burning fat and building lean muscle (which can help you lose weight!). CLA in natural form is also a cancer fighting nutrient. These benefits are on top of the fact that grass-fed meats are some of the highest quality proteins that you can possibly eat... and this also aids in burning fat and building lean muscle.

Grass-fed meats are a little harder to find, but just ask your butcher or find a specialty grocery store and they usually have cuts available. I've also found a good site to order grass-fed meats online - http://healthygrassfed.2ya.com

I really like this online service, as the meats are reasonably priced and a sealed cooler shows up at your door within a few days… they’ve got some great products, including grass-fed sausage, jerky, and tons of other great stuff!

Eat Your Way Lean! By: Mike Geary

Check next week for Flat Belly Food #3