Grassfed or pastured beef is quite the little buzzword at CFSB. We bought an entire cow that was grassfed from birth to slaughter, and have it at CFSB for you to purchase at your convenience. You can workout, rollout, pick up some meat and head home. Why would you want to buy grassfed vs grainfed?
Pastured beef has 2-4 times the amount of omega 3 fatty acids as feedlot grainfed beef. Omega 3’s are found in the chloroplasts of green leaves. If you look at the fatty acid profile of grass, 60% is Omega 3. Grainfed cattle don’t see fresh pasture or grass, and contain not only a lower amount of Omega 3’s, but a higher amount of Omega 6 fatty acids. While Omega 3’s reduce inflammation, a diet rich in omega 6 causes inflammation. The standard American Diet has up to a 24:1ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3. A low inflammatory and healthy ratio is 3:1, or better yet 1:1. In our house the two meats now have nicknames.. “Omega 3 meat” and “Omega 6 meat”. While hubbyy grabs some Omega-6 BBQ whenever he can. Pumpkin gets only the Omega-3 so she can grow healthy and strong!
Cattle that are grassfed most of their lives and then sent to a feedlot to be grain-finished are not much better than 100% grainfed beef. The fatty acid profile of a grain-finished animal quickly tilts from a healthy Omega 6-Omega 3 ratio to an unhealthy one. The Omega 3’s begin to diminish immediately and continue to drop as the grain and by-products continue.
Feedlot animals are fed a mix of soy and grain. They also are given by-products such as rotting foods from food plants and bakeries, candy with or without the wrappers. Never mind the chemicals ingested due to eating packaging and wrappers. The anti-nutrients present in grains and soybeans create sick diseased animals that have to be pumped full of antibiotics and hormones to survive. Feedlot cattle are given shots of estrogen to get them to grow faster. They also require copious amounts of antacid or they will become sick with bloating from the
hard-to-digest corn. This causes damage to their liver, but hey they are going to die anyway right?
Pastured beef is also high conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and Vitamin E. CLA can help reduce cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis and % body fat. Grainfed animals contain 3-5 times less CLA than pastured. Vitamin E is 4 times higher in pastured beef. Vitamin E helps to reduce heart disease, and acts as a powerful antioxidant.
Here is a list of a few nutrients present in grassfed over grainfed from Bestbeefever.com:
78% more beta-carotene
75% more Omega 3
300% more Vitamin E
400% more Vitamin A
500% more CLA
The price of grassfed beef is a bit higher than grainfed, but well worth the extra $$. The short and long term health benefits are enough to justify the small cost difference. The cattle live a much better life and you get a much healthier meal!
Sources: eatwild.com, bestbeefever.com
Workout of the Day 11/29/2011
A. Front Squat 5-5-5
* If you haven’t done your Back Squat 5RM from Monday, do it today instead of Part A
B. For Time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Kettlebell Goblet Squats
Between each set, perform 20m walking lunges with KB
*Advanced: Use 2 pood or go overhead with kettlebell on lunges
Fundamentals 11/29/2011
A. Front Squats 10-10-10
B. 2 Rounds
10 Front Squats
10 Push Ups
20 Mountain Climbers
C. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
DB Thruster
Burpees
