Eat this red meat with confidence

Did you see yesterday’s Associated Press story, “Eating Red Meat Linked to Early Death, Study Says”? Briefly, the story details the results of a study of more than a half million AARP members aged 50-71 who were surveyed on their eating habits, then followed for 10 years. Turns out, red meat emerges as the bad guy again. But before the headline scares you away from ever enjoying another juicy hamburger, remember that eggs, bacon and coconut oil have all suffered from bad reputations, as well. By now, discerning, health-conscious people have learned not to rush to ban a particular food. Many of us now want proof, so we dig deeper, ask questions.

In this case, the questions go like this: How much meat did the folks in the study consume? Where did it come from? A fast-food joint, perhaps, one that serves meat from a factory feedlot where the animals routinely get steady low doses of antibiotics, among other things?

Rod Morrison is CEO and president of Rocky Mountain Organic Meats, the Wyoming ranch that produces organic, grassfed beef. Healthy, cruelty-free cattle roam his 600,000 acres of certified organic land where they eat real food cows were born to consume---healthy grass and plants. The animals never live in pens, nor are they given hormones, or anything else synthetic. Obviously, their healthy, outdoor lifestyle equals quality eats, with one huge bonus that we should all expect---connection to a good healthy food supply we're able to trust.

Morrison, a Wyoming native, knows a story or two about the diet of Native Americans, the first occupants of that land; meat-eaters who have encountered problems because they changed their diet. “The American Indian used to sit down to a meal of buffalo and eat nine pounds of meat in one sitting,” he says. “Now, that’s a large amount of meat. Today’s American Indian has trouble with diabetes. It has nothing to do with meat. It’s because they changed their diet to a carbohydrate and sugar diet. If you asked them if red meat was killing them, they’d say no, it’s the sugar.”

Organic grassfed beef is typically higher in omega-3 fatty acids, and lower in omega-6s, and something else we need. “What you get from truly grassfed beef,” Morrison says, “is trace minerals. The animal is always searching out what it needs, including certain plants.”

On the flip side, the factory feedlot cattle live in pens and don’t feed on omega-rich grasses and plants, and they don't take in trace minerals. What comes out of that unnatural environment is an unhealthy food supply no one should trust.

Moderation is the word to live by, and Morrison's schedule takes that into consideration. He harvests his animals while they're young, so that meat portion sizes are smaller. He says, “You don’t need a large piece of meat at the center of the plate. I’ll guarantee you grassfed beef is much better for you than conventional beef.”

In her Albuquerque, New Mexico office, Dr. Kaayla Daniel, a PhD in nutrition and board-certified clinical nutritionist (CCN), counsels her clients who had been trying to be healthy by following the politcally-correct low-fat, low-meat diet, back to good, healthful eating habits. She recommends they eat organic, grassfed beef almost always. “Many of them experience dramatic improvement in their health with the inclusion of red meat,” she says. “Some benefit from a serving a day.” When animals are unnaturally fed, a reference to factory-farmed, feedlot cows, it changes everything---the nutritional profile and the health benefits.

In addition to meat, Dr. Daniel introduces other good quality foods into clients’ diets---eggs and butter, for instance---while taking out most of the soy products they’d become accustomed to eating regularly. “There are ways, of course, of buying dairy from pastured cows that will support the health of the animals and we can support the environment.”

Her women clients, in particular, thrive when red meat is put back into their diets. Women need copper, zinc, and iron, the very trace minerals grassfed cows like Morrison’s dine on daily, then pass on to meat consumers.

A fair number of Dr. Daniel’s clients are ex-vegetarians. “What I point out to vegetarians is that I’m not a supporter of the factory farm system.”

Dr. Daniel is a member of the Board of Directors of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and also of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a group active in securing the rights of farmers to sell--and consumers to buy--organic grass fed beef and other fresh foods directly from the farm.

In addition, Dr. Daniel has authored a book on an important nutritional aspect receiving attention. “The Whole Soy Story. The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food” (New Trends) is available on Amazon.