Ok, so I have been getting a few questions about the Mammoth food posts. Yes- we eat a beef. Burgers, tacos, nachos, and leg of lamb have all been on my posts lately, so your questions are valid. You all know that we eat a tremendous amount of wild caught fish. Thank you to my amazing family fishermen- and those sponsoring them to get out there! But we eat red meat too.

It is all about SOURCING.

Sourcing is a big deal for all of our food.  Today I’ll share a bit about sourcing for animal protein.

I source all of the meat products for my family from Henson Heritage Farms. This small family farm provides ethically raised meat from animals that are grass fed, grass finished, raised without soy or corn products, and absolutely no antibiotics ever.

I bet you will be blown away by knowing that properly sourced grass-fed beef is one of the best sources for different antioxidants, vitamins and minerals as well as a sufficient source of inflammation fighting Omega 3 fatty acid.

The concern for red meat is mostly about the saturated fat content. This concern is abated when you consider sourcing of the meat.  So here are the facts about properly raised grass-fed and grass-finished beef.

First, know that studies correlating the consumption of red meat and cancer are inconclusive. Current studies and a comprehensive review of previous studies have in fact shown no relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and saturated fats. Spoiler alert, CHD is really related to simple carbohydrates and insulin. Even more, grass-fed meat, in comparison to grain-fed meat has higher percentage of stearic acid making up it’s saturated fat content. So for the consumer, it means that grass-fed/finished meat poses even less of a concern in raising cholesterol in the consumer.

To top it off, it turns out that grass-fed/finished beef is the best source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)……. CLA is a protector again diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

While the Omega 6 levels are the same in grain and grass-fed/finished beef, the Omega 3 levels in grass-fed beef are 3-5 times that found in grain-fed beef.

So all of this being said- beef is part of our meal planning- but only beef sourced from Henson Heritage or similar farms. I believe so strongly in the importance of sourcing your meat properly, and the value of our health that I have arranged a discount code for with Jennifer at Henson Heritage.  Yup, all of my clients receive 10% off their order with this code. All you have to do is contact me for a consultation or follow-up visit and I’ll give you the discount code. Go to their website and check it out. You can order anything from one pound of ground beef to 1/2 a cow – whatever fits in your freezer!  Their next two delivery dates for San Diego, Encinitas and Orange County are February 3rd and March 3rd. Check out more details on their Schedule here.

For more easy reading on this subject, feel free to visit a few of my trusted sources.

https://chriskresser.com/red-meat-it-does-a-body-good/

Why Grass-Fed Trumps Grain-Fed

https://draxe.com/grass-fed-beef-nutrition/

Is Your Hamburger Killing You? Everything You Need To Know About Old-School vs. New-School Beef.

If you are looking for the studies on this topic check out this and more on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648?dopt=AbstractPlus

Lisa R. Spencer, Ed.D., NTP
Optimize Your Performance
LisaSpencerNutrition.com
858-774-0723