Benefits of grass fed beef over grain fed beef

[Mugz]

It seems that most of HL are vegans or vegetarians. This is more for the carnivores that are here.

Grass fed beef is so much better for us than grain fed beef, and not just better for us, but better for the cows lives and better for the environment and just better overall, it is the way forward.

Here are a few quotes from a few sites to try and show that grass fed beef is more nutritious as this is the healthy living forum that is the primary point I should be trying to get across by suggesting eating grass fed meat. Have linked the quotes to the original articles that I got them from.

Grass-Fed Beef Is More Nutritious

Most beef cows in America are raised for a short time on grass and then "finished" in confined feeding areas with a diet of grain that is unnatural to them, which boosts E. coli counts in their guts, and which encourages the spread of disease. Grass-fed beef cows eat grass their entire lives, as cows evolved to do. Because their lifecycle isn't accelerated with hormones, animals mature in the spring when forage is bursting with new growth, seeds and nutrients. Those nutrients end up in the meat and result in a healthy and delicious product.

Some research suggests grass-fed beef has more nutrients as a result -- as much as 10 times more beta-carotene, three times more Vitamin E and three-times more omega-3 fatty acids.

Grass vs. Grain Fed

What is the big deal with grass-fed beef anyway? Well, for one, the conjugated linoleic acid content. As mentioned in yesterday’s cheese post, CLA is believed to offer anti-cancer properties. It can also help decrease the risk of insulin resistance. Another big difference? A pastured diet results in a nearly 1:1 ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. This is the ratio believed to characterize our hunter-gatherer ancestors (you know, Grok and company). What does a grain-fed ratio look like? Try 6:1. A skewed ratio is a prescription for inflammation and possible precursor/risk factor for chronic disease.

Finally, there’s the E-Coli issue. With all the concern about food safety in the last decade or so, one fact doesn’t get enough if any real press: grass fed (and finished) beef is considerably less likely to be infected with E-Coli (abstract), particularly acid resistant E-Coli that cannot be effectively “disarmed” by our digestive systems.

It’s worth noting that many cattle start off grass-fed early on in their lives but are nearly always switched to grain in the months before slaughter. Most of the initial omega-3 stores and other nutritional benefits are lost during that time. Grass-fed and –finished are not synonymous.

Grass Fed Beef is healthier for you and your family.

If you are already worried about the effects of meat on you or your family's health, you can stop worrying! Pasture raised beef is lower in total fat than regular beef and is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. Most grass fed beef is organic beef. For obvious reasons, organic beef is healthier

Basically, it seems to be that the Omega 3 Omega 6 fatty acid ratio is a lot more natural in grass fed beef and there is less risk of E.Coli

If you read a couple of the links that I embedded into the quotes you will also see that as well as grass fed beef being healthier, it is also a lot more humane, it tastes better because the cows are not constantly injected with steroids and hormones and it is also better for the environment, and also it tastes a hell of a lot better.



This is mainly an american problem as most of the beef in the UK is grass fed, we don't have the factory cattle farming that you do over there, but thought that this is still a thread of value to point out the benefits of grass fed beef over grain fed beef.

 

[modern buddha]

I don't eat meat, and I approve of grass fed, organic meats. That is all.

 

['medicine cabinet']

grass fed beef just has a better more earthy iron taste to it. PLus the less stress the animal experiences, the better the quality of the animals products...milk, beef ect Look at the wagyu beef cattrle in japan, they are fed beer and given massages lol. They live better than some humans i know. But in the end all that care and letting them eat and live naturally makes for a better cut of beef.

 

[Mehm]

Check out "Intensive Rotational Grazing" and Polyface Farms for some really cool methods of raising chickens and cows in a rotating cycle in pastures. The amount of calories per meter of land use krushez factory farming.

 

[Jblazingphoenix100]

grass fed beef just has a better more earthy iron taste to it. PLus the less stress the animal experiences, the better the quality of the animals products...milk, beef ect Look at the wagyu beef cattrle in japan, they are fed beer and given massages lol. They live better than some humans i know. But in the end all that care and letting them eat and live naturally makes for a better cut of beef.

THis all sounds really yummy and I wanna sample the differences...lol

I thought it was Kobe beef/!?

 

[addictivepersona]

Check out "Intensive Rotational Grazing" and Polyface Farms for some really cool methods of raising chickens and cows in a rotating cycle in pastures. The amount of calories per meter of land use krushez factory farming.

This is what I came here to post about, in addition to the OP's quote on the omega 3 to omega 6 ratios.

A good book to read that touches on this subject is Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

 

[Mugz]

Oooh, thanks for that information Mehm, sounds like a much better way than grain fed factory farms. I like it.

I think it is a terrible shame how much grain fed factory farming goes on in america. Is actually I think not practiced at all here, the last I heard there were plans for two big factory farms to be started a year or so ago but the local residents managed to get the plans squashed and shut down.

Hope it never happens here, as I love to be able to just go to the butchers and know my beef is grass fed.

 

[addictivepersona]

I think it is a terrible shame how much grain fed factory farming goes on in america. Is actually I think not practiced at all here, the last I heard there were plans for two big factory farms to be started a year or so ago but the local residents managed to get the plans squashed and shut down.

Hope it never happens here, as I love to be able to just go to the butchers and know my beef is grass fed.

Not to burst your bubble, but read and dig deeper. :-/

 

[Mugz]

This is the article that I read about a year ago that I was basing my opinions on

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...style-factory-farming-to-britain-2010107.html

It is defintiely not as widespread in the UK, I know they do it for poultry and pigs sometimes too, but I was sure that it hadn't been implemented in large scale for cows in the UK.

Going to have to do some deeper digging to see if I can find out exactly how many US Style Zero Grazing Farms there are in the UK.

Whole thing makes me sad, not sad enough to become a veggie though, but just more wary about buying my meat to make sure it is grass fed meat.

 

[modern buddha]

This whole thread makes me sad. Too bad eating vegetarian / vegan is difficult too...

 

[Mugz]

I didn't mean for the thread to turn out sad

Was just trying to point out the health benefits of grass fed beef over grain fed beef, a lot of people are not aware of the benefits, for your health or for the animals and environment. I guess a lot of people live in a world where ignorance is bliss.

The omega 3 omega 6 ratio is the biggest factor in my opinion that tells me that grass fed beef is best to eat.

Sorry again if this thread has upset anyone.

 

[Mehm]

A thought: We now have the technology via juicers and high-speed blenders to essentially pre-digest or extract the protein and fat out of leafy greens and grasses directly, with out the help of a cow. IE you can take the same grass that cows eat, put it through a juicer, and consume all of the same protein. Calorie for calorie spinach has more protein than beef. Also, the protein is still in its amino acid form when consumed directly from the plant. Your body doesn't have to break apart protein chains then reassemble them. Also, cooking meat denatures some of the protein and fat, whereas juicing leaves everything intact. There is also the added benefit of consuming chlorophyll and fiber (if the blender method is used).

Chimps and gorillas derive almost all of their protein and fats from leafs....

 

[Mugz]

I don't really want this thread to become a carnivore vs herbivore thread. Is there not another thread in this forum that is basically that. A discussion (not argument) on the merits of both a meat eating lifestyle and a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.

If there isn't then I will create one tomorrow. If there is then wouldn't that last post be better suited to that debate.

Have I come to the wrong forum to talk about meat? Is everyone that regularly posts here a vegetarian? Are my threads and posts about eating meat in a healthy way pointless and not going to be ready? Has everyone already decided that it is "fact" that there are better options than meat? Or are there meat eaters here?

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't think that people should shut the door on meat just because a lot of people are vegans and vegetarians

 

[Mehm]

My post was meant to illustrate that if you want to derive healthy protein and fat from grass, you can use a juicer. You state that grass fed cows are the way forward...I'm just trying to illustrate that there are means beyond even that of helping the environment and the lives of cows. If you want to eat meat because you like the taste of it or the feeling it gives you, I agree that grass fed is the way to go.

 

[Mugz]

The lives of cows most likely wouldn't be around much longer though if noone ate them or drank milk. Sad but pretty much true. I guess your point was valid, but there are other benefits to eating the meat rather than just the juiced up leafy greens IMO.

I wish factory farming with grain fed cows didn't exist, it does make me sad, but how else would all of the fast food outlets run a business without them

If everyone ate grass fed though there would not be enough cows to go around, so it is a bit of a dilemna really. I will always try and eat grass fed beef over grain fed beef, for the reasons I have stated above.

 

[MatthewD]

Grass fed beef is so much better for us than grain fed beef, and not just better for us, but better for the cows lives and better for the environment and just better overall, it is the way forward.

I apologize for my lack of constructive input. I'd say that 'Grass Fed Beef' is not a step forward, but instead a step backwards into normality. Since when would a Cow find buckets full of grain in the wild? And even if they did, wouldn't there be grass attached? Sounds like sense to me...

 

[Mugz]

no there wouldn't, you wouldn't see cows in the wild be wallking around corn fields as they didn't exist, well there are not very many wild corn fields, and there are not very many wild fields full of other grains, but there are plenty of spaces of open land filled with GRASS only, which is a cow's natural diet. Also, why do cows have to eat out of buckets, cows eating out of buckets is ridicolous, they are an animal that should just eat naturally out of the land.

You say it would be a step back. It is only a step back if you figure that a step forward it to battery farm these cows and prematurely age them and fill them with grains and steroids and hormones that they are not meant to have because the cows digestive system is actually not designed for grains, it causes the cow a lot of discomfort to eat grains but we force them to do it anyway as it beefs them up faster, excuse the pun.

It is a step forward to use feedlots to finish off the cows if you treat meat as just another product that you want out on the shelves as soon as possible, regardless of the health and safety, and regardless of how it affects other living animals and the environment, rather than thinking of food as something that should come from a more natural place, something that we should respect.

The only reason that there are grain fed cows in factory farms is because of the huge desire for beef, which I guess is a good point in favour of vegetarianism or veganism, but me becoming a vegetarian is not going to stop the factory farming and I enjoy a lovely bit of steak, but if I am going to eat that steak I am going to do my hardest t make sure that the cow that the steak came from was treated humanely, and was fed on grass, and not grains.

Also, what sort of grass do you see that has grains attached to it???? That just sounds like grains, not grass.

Did you even read any of the articles that I linked to in the quotes in the first post?

This is grass where cows eat grass

This is a feedlot where cows eat grains

Do you see any difference there?



This website is one of the best for quickly explaining the benefits of grass fed beef

http://www.organicgrassfedbeefinfo.com/

Just give it a quick read and you will see the benefits very quickly

 

[addictivepersona]

Okay, whew, this thread is already going so many different directions it's hard to keep track!

Let's try and keep the subject on the benefits of grass fed beef over grain fed as the first post and the title describes. Yes, you can get the same benefits (same fat, protein, calories, etc) from a plant-based diet, but I don't think people reading this thread or those who follow a meat-based diet really want to hear about that as that will be falling on deaf ears.

To answer your question, Mugs, yes, there are quite a few people here who follow a plant-based diet who are vocal about it. I'm not sure on the percentages as far as who typically posts in HL and is a plant-based eater versus who posts in HL and is a meat-based eater though I would say it is in favor of the meat-eaters--Though many are not as vocal about their diets.

I am not sure at the moment if there is a debate thread for plant-based diets versus meat-based diets or not, but if there is, please take the discussion over there for debating it. If there is not one, feel free to make one (or I'll make one later ). If one is made, please keep it civil, as I ask you to do here (which you all have been doing a good job of already). (I say keep it civil only because I've seen debate threads on similar subjects quickly go down the tubes.)

 

[MatthewD]

no there wouldn't, you wouldn't see cows in the wild be wallking around corn fields as they didn't exist, well there are not very many wild corn fields, and there are not very many wild fields full of other grains, but there are plenty of spaces of open land filled with GRASS only, which is a cow's natural diet. Also, why do cows have to eat out of buckets, cows eating out of buckets is ridicolous, they are an animal that should just eat naturally out of the land.

No offense dude, but I fully agreed with you. I thought I made that pretty clear. Hence "normality." The use of the word "buckets" was simply just a metaphor, such as saying "tons" etc.

You say it would be a step back. It is only a step back if you figure that a step forward it to battery farm these cows and prematurely age them and fill them with grains and steroids and hormones that they are not meant to have because the cows digestive system is actually not designed for grains, it causes the cow a lot of discomfort to eat grains but we force them to do it anyway as it beefs them up faster, excuse the pun.

Well, humankind took that step; as far as I know, plenty of Cows are grain fed. It definitely happened. Going back to the original diet of grass (and whatever else...) would be a positive step in restoring normality to the Cows.

It is a step forward to use feedlots to finish off the cows if you treat meat as just another product that you want out on the shelves as soon as possible, regardless of the health and safety, and regardless of how it affects other living animals and the environment, rather than thinking of food as something that should come from a more natural place, something that we should respect.

I agree.

The only reason that there are grain fed cows in factory farms is because of the huge desire for beef, which I guess is a good point in favour of vegetarianism or veganism, but me becoming a vegetarian is not going to stop the factory farming and I enjoy a lovely bit of steak, but if I am going to eat that steak I am going to do my hardest t make sure that the cow that the steak came from was treated humanely, and was fed on grass, and not grains.

Also, what sort of grass do you see that has grains attached to it???? That just sounds like grains, not grass.

Looking out onto over 10 acres of untouched paddock, I can see several types of grass, all of which reproduce; presumptuously all by seed. Seeds, especially commonly found 'grass-seed', are almost indistinguishable from "grain", unless you're a Biologist and get really petty with the scientific definitions. The point is, our cows used to eat every single bit of this, the grass and its seeds/grains. I'm assuming a naturally balanced mixture is normal; unless of course these Cows are master farmers with their own genetically modified grass that they cultivate through clones.

Did you even read any of the articles that I linked to in the quotes in the first post?

This is grass where cows eat grass

Cheers dude, living in the country I have never been privileged enough to see a field of grass?

This is a feedlot where cows eat grains

Do you see any difference there?

Definitely not... Please elaborate.

This website is one of the best for quickly explaining the benefits of grass fed beef

http://www.organicgrassfedbeefinfo.com/

Just give it a quick read and you will see the benefits very quickly

I don't need to read that to "see the benefits", of course free-roaming Cows will be healthier/happier than ones on a modified diet. I'm not trying to be rude, but seriously, don't treat me like I'm retarded.

 

[modern buddha]

^ Well, some people don't even have the slightest idea that there are "grass fed" cows and that the cows they eat are usually "grain fed". Ignorance in this world is more commonplace the more we change our focuses to ourselves. Moreover, some people have no idea the benefits to the cows to eat their natural diet instead of one that promotes quick growth.

Sidenote: Cows didn't exist before humans used them in farms. They wouldn't be able to exist in the wild. They are domesticated animals.