I’ve been scrolling through comments and there have been a number of questions about what type of meat I’m eating. Sorry, I don’t get to them all, I’m super busy and there are a lot of comments. They’re great to read but I’m too slow to keep up!
A couple of things:
- I try to buy antibiotic/hormone-free grass-fed beef as much as I can. Ribeye is my favorite, but I’ll also eat blade roasts (they’re fattier), and ground beef. Grass-fed beef is really expensive so I’m not always eating grass-fed. Sometimes it’s grain-finished.
- I always avoid antibiotics in meat.
- All this being said, I haven’t had a bad reaction to grain-fed beef with antibiotics/hormones. When I went to Europe it was hard to tell what was in the meat. I didn’t have a reaction to any of it, even though some of it tasted awful. I don’t have a reaction to grain-fed beef either. If I go to a restaurant and order a steak, chances are its grain-fed and has antibiotics, and it doesn’t make me flare.
I guess my suggestion would be: Shop around, look for a butcher at cheaper prices. Farmer’s markets are great. We shop with Mennonites on the weekend and they have inexpensive beef that’s grass-fed (although not always) and antibiotic/hormone-free. If the price is a huge issue and a game-changer, it’s better to just eat more meat even if it’s grain-fed with antibiotics, than to not eat more meat. Theoretically, the grass-fed antibiotic-free meat is better for you (and it makes sense that it would be) so that’s what I try to eat, but I honestly haven’t physically noticed a difference between that and grain-fed with antibiotics.
Thank you for clearing that up. I have wondered if it was the added stuff that was causing issues.
I think most of us understand that your life is difficult with your broken arm and working for your dad (and of course taking care of Scarlett) , it is impossible to keep up with all the comments. Just do what you can.
I watched your dad’s latest video, looks very healthy and the beard is GREAT!
also finally listened to the pod cast you did, great job!
Thank you guys for all your work!
Take care!
I don’t think there’s any downside to hormone-free or grass-fed beef, but here’s an argument that the distinction isn’t nearly as important as the overall amount of chicken and salmon you eat:
http://roguehealthandfitness.com/is-grass-fed-beef-worth-the-money/
Dennis Mangan, who runs that blog, is a great source of info on the latest health & nutrition research.
Also, here’s a handy guide to the Omega 3/6 balance in different foods:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/09/pracical-approach-to-omega-fats.html
Cheers!
Hello Mikhaila –
Just a couple of thoughts – Keep in mind my thoughts and $5.00 will get you a coffee at Starbucks ?
“If the price is a huge issue and a game changer, it’s better to just eat more meat even if it’s grain fed with antibiotics, than to not eat more meat.”
I’m not sure I’d completely agree with that statement, in fact, the dangers of eating conventionally raised animal products are pretty well documented. The toxins you ingest from conventionally raised beef may not be acute but longterm the results typically are not positive. Not only do you face the downstream consequences of eating sick (grain-fed), antibiotic laden, hormone infused animals but the ratio of Omega 6 to 3 fatty acids is suboptimal to say the least. Depending on the study you can find Omega 6 heavy animal products ranging from 16:1 to 25:1. In good news it appears that, as an example, grass-fed beef has an Omega 6 to 3 ratio range of 2:1 to 4:1. The importance of a balanced ratio is allowing the body to maintain its inflammatory to anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
What I have found very useful in the search for grass-fed beef was saving the money to purchase a freezer. Next, I did the legwork to find a local rancher who raises only grass-fed beef and pasture raised pork. I can purchase half a cow have it all packaged and pre-frozen for under $6.00 a pound. That includes all the cuts, roasts, steaks, ribs, and ground. By supporting my local rancher he makes more money and I get wonderful beef for way less then I’d pay at a butcher shop.
Here is a useful link:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/canada.html
Your doing great work – Keep it up!
I agree. Going grass-fed and avoiding hormone and antibiotics is a better idea than not. Finding a way to buy half a cow is a great way to save money (we do that). I do feel though that this diet is complicated enough that I want to reduce any extra difficulties. I’m extremely sensitive to what I eat and lower quality beef hasn’t made a difference to me. I avoid it, but it’s not like it makes me visibly ill, so I wanted to get that across.
Are you familiar with Dr. Shawn Baker (he was on Joe Rogan not too long ago); an advocate for a carnivore diet? I remember him bringing up that it’s sorta negligible the hormones you get in regular beef compared to grass-fed. Or I could be misremembering.
I am familiar with him. I’ve heard what he’s said about antibiotics and hormones, but I’ve also found that even minute amounts of certain things really really bother me. So I’m careful (paranoid?) about everything.
Hi Mikhaila,
I wonder if genetics play into some of your sensitivities. I remember reading that your background in Norwegian and there is a group of people from northern Norway that eat nothing but reindeer meat and reindeer milk. It could be that somewhere in your DNA you might have a gene that never adapted to processing carbs. There is a great book called “Genome” that discusses how our DNA is evolving over time.
They have also found that native people who go back to a traditional native diet have a drastic reduction in diabetes and heart disease which is rampant in the native community. It turns out that their native diet is largely meat based and similar to the ketogenic diet.
Who knows. I’ve had my DNA tested and nothing shows up, but there’s a lot of info in our DNA we can’t get at. I’ll take a look at that book, thanks!
You will find most US Beef is Grain fed and the majority of Australian Beef is grass fed.
Leave a comment