Grass and pastures vs. corn and hormones

You've heard me talk about beef before - how it's chock full of lifesaving protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, omega-3 and omega-6 acids, and on and on and on. And how it's in every way preferable to tofu and soy-burgers, plus how it's really "what's for dinner" if you want to live as long and healthy as possible…

In fact, some of you may think I'm a little too much a fan of beef, especially those of you who are heavily influenced by the pro-vegetarian, "meat is murder" mainstream in this country. To those of you who've been brainwashed into thinking beef consumption can be dangerous, I say:

You're RIGHT. Sort of.

Surprised to hear me say that? Don't worry, I haven't turned vegan on you. No, I haven't gone all "Bob Barker" and become a spokesperson for PETA, either. And I haven't sold my soul to the wheat and grain lobbies that are fattening up and killing us like so many, well… cattle.

I'm simply revisiting one of my core assertions about beef:

That it's only as healthy for you as it can be if it's NOT the kind you buy in most U.S. supermarkets or discount grocery chains. That's right, the vast bulk of the beef sold in the American marketplace - both in stores and prepared in restaurants - is of the corn-fed, antibiotic-laced, hormone-fattened variety that's raised by most modern U.S. cattle farms. And as beef goes, it's far from ideal for your consumption…

Don't get me wrong - even this less-than-ideal beef is still better for you than any vegetarian diet. But it's certainly not all it could be for your health. And compared to the RIGHT kind of beef, it's woefully lacking in nutrients. What's the "right" kind of beef to eat?

As I've said before, the very best kind is free-range, grass-fed, organically farmed beef. That means the animals' movements aren't confined to a small pasture, their diets are as close to what they'd naturally eat as possible, and they aren't being pumped full of synthetic drugs or growth-spurring hormones that can be passed along to us in their milk and meat. This "super-beef" can be tricky to find (start with a local butcher shop - not the "butcher" behind the counter at the supermarket), and expensive, but it's worth it…

And not just because it's got 2 or 3 times the healthy omega-3s and other goodies as corn-fed beef.

According to some recent research from both the UK and the U.S., there's evidence that the growth and sex hormones injected into conventionally farmed American beef may be causing some pretty serious physiological anomalies in us…

First, from the UK: According to NewsTarget and other sources, an expert from the British Veterinary Products Commission (they oversee the safety of animal products, not pet toys, like it sounds) has revealed evidence that the hormones most American cattle farms have pumped into their beef since the early 1990s may spur early puberty in girls, extreme growth spurts in boys, unnatural breast development in both sexes, and even genital abnormalities.

A little scary, isn't it?

Then add this to the mix, from the U.S.: A study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine strongly correlates the human-added hormones passed along from the milk of "juiced" cows to a 5-times-over increase in the likelihood of the average American pregnancy ending with the birth of twins.

Hmmm. Kids showing increased, exaggerated, or abnormal sex and physiological development - plus a 500% spike in over-fertility among pregnant women - that correlates almost exactly with the addition of sex and growth hormones to the diets of beef cattle…

Sure doesn't sound like bull to me. More (and scarier) beefings in the next Daily Dose.