Swap Out Your Conventional Beef (corn-finished, grain-fed, etc)
Replace it with: 100% Grass-Fed Beef and Bison
Navigating this Blog Post:
The "Why"
Cows are grazing animals with a natural diet of grass, so it would be nice if the beef that's sold to us is from cows that were raised on their natural diet...right? Well, it would be nice. However, the sad truth is that the majority of beef sold in grocery stores and served to us in restaurants is made up of cows raised on a very unnatural diet of corn, soy, and other grains. Combine this with the terrible living conditions of feedlots and the antibiotics & hormones they're pumped with, and you're left with unnatural meat that's incredibly detrimental to your health. Meat from 100% grass-fed cows & bison, on the other hand, is leaner, contains beneficial fat and filled with awesome nutrients!
In this blog post, I hope I'll be able to convince you to stop consuming conventional beef and to swap it with 100% grass-fed beef and bison!
Get Rid of These Products:
Grain-Fed Beef (corn, soy, etc)
Organic Beef that's not Grass-Fed
Beef that's "finished" on Grains
Jerky and other food containing any of the above meats
Why They're Bad For You
The Short Answer
As we learned in both January's and February's healthy swaps, the food that we put into our bodies is what is used to...well, make up** our bodies. After learning about how our cell membranes are made up of mostly the fats we consume, and everything in our bodies are made up of cells, the fats we eat quite literally make up our bodies. So if the meat we're eating is unhealthy and laced with chemicals & antibiotics, that meat is making up our body. This can manifest in a number of issues, including acne-prone or quickly aging skin, weight gain, hormonal disruptions, heart disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. **I know this seems oversimplified and redundant, but I know for me, it's easy to separate the idea that food is fuel for my body and the idea that it's just something that tastes good and satiates hunger at the moment. So I'm trying to reinforce the awareness that yes, though that fast-food cheeseburger tastes amazing right now and it seems like just a cheeseburger, all the parts of that cheeseburger are also now going to be a part of your cellular makeup.
The Long Answer
Beef from cows raised on a grain diet in feedlots is not "natural" meat. Cows' digestive tracts were not meant to break down corn, soy, and other grain feed, so when they're fed this diet, their bodies cannot function at the optimal level.
If the grains they're fed aren't organic, then you can guarantee that the pesticides (and most likely glyphosate) that the grains were sprayed with are now in your meat. Even if the meat is labeled organic, and the grains fed to the cows isn't sprayed with pesticide, it is still an unnatural diet for the cows. To read more on glyphosate and its link to causing cancer, click here and here.
When cows are forced to live in cramped feedlots, their diet plus the stress and unsanitary living conditions create sick, unhealthy cows. Sick, unhealthy cows then require antibiotics to stop the spread of disease throughout the feedlots. Many of these cows are also pumped with hormones as well.
When antibiotics are continually being used, bacteria become resistant to them, which make them aggressive and harder to kill. This is not good news if you happen to get food poisoning from a bad piece of meat filled with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Sure, everything in our diets should be about balance & everything in moderation. However...when it comes to conventional beef? I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but that corn-finished steak on your plate at the restaurant, or that ground beef you're about to feed your family - if it's not from a 100% grass-fed cow, it's so much more than just "a little saturated fat."
Why These Replacements are Good For You
Grass-fed beef and bison are an awesome alternative to conventional beef because they not only taste better, but they're loaded with health benefits!! Not to mention, they're (funny enough) what we originally ate, before the industrialization of mass-produced meat. Many of these will be the same as last month's swap, but I'll do my best to not be too repetitive!
Great source of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) a polyunsaturated fat that fights cancer, aids in weight loss and helps prevent diabetes and heart disease
Great source of essential electrolytes (magnesium, sodium, and potassium)
Great source of Omega 3's (with a healthy omega-6 to omega-3 ratio)
Less calories & leaner than conventional beef, with better flavor and healthy fats
Contains More Glutathione (strong natural antioxidant) than conventional beef - and after reading January's healthy swap post, you know we love our antioxidants to help fight those free radicals!
Better for the Environment and more Humane for the Cows
Bison is great because it has a lot of the nutritional benefits of grass-fed grass-finished beef, while being leaner (lower calories and fat content). My boyfriend and I love buying ground grass-fed bison from the store and using it just like ground beef. We also love that places like Whole Foods sells grass-fed bison tenderloin steaks. Who knew that juicy & fatty grass-fed steaks could be part of a healthy & nutritious diet?!
Here are some great options for where to buy grass-fed, grass-finished beef and bison!
Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's
Your Local Farmers
Links to Cited Articles
Four Reasons You Should Always Choose Grass-Fed Beef (Dave Asprey)
Is Your Hamburger Killing You? Everything You Need to Know About Old-School vs. New-School Beef (Ben Greenfield)
The 7 Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef (Heartstone Farm)
12 Reasons to Eat Grass-Fed Beef (PaleoValley)
6 Grass-Fed Beef Nutrition Benefits that May Surprise You (Dr. Axe)
6 Reasons to Try Bison Meat Now (Dr. Axe)
Systemic Evaluation on the Effectiveness of CLA in Human Health (PubMed)
Glyphosate Fact Sheet: Cancer and Other Health Concerns (US RTK)
Why I Started "Healthy Swaps" for 2022
I've always found when wanting to make a major health or lifestyle change, it's easier to take it in little steps than to try and make a massive change on the spot. Mastering little steps has always been more successful in making the change a lasting habit for me, as opposed to a temporary phase. I've had friends ask me about my diet & eating habits, and as soon as I tell them, they come back with different variations of "Oh that's too hard," "That's so much work," and "I could never do that!"
Believe me, when I started down this path to a healthier lifestyle, I felt the same way! When I have food or beauty/household products that I love, I never want to give them up. However, slowly but surely, I made little changes here & there and now, it's a lifestyle I'm happy to embrace. Sure, it's still hard some days to make the healthier choice, even with the research I'm learning on why [insert food/product] is bad for you, but it's definitely not as hard as it used to be.
So this year I decided to create the Healthy Swaps series! Every month, I will post a new blog post with a simple swap to make, and with these small changes made every month, we can be living a healthier lifestyle by the end of the year!
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