The Six Dangers of Common Beef, and How to Avoid Them

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http://www.mercola.com/2003/dec/20/beef_dangers.htm

 

 

The Six Dangers of Common Beef, and How to Avoid Them

 

 

 

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

 

 

 

Beef is a mainstay of the traditional American dinner. Many even eat it for

lunch or a late night snack. It’s many forms show up at summer barbecues,

holiday feasts, workday dinners, and just about anywhere that people are eating.

In fact, Americans eat more meat than any other population in the world, with

the typical American eating over 60 pounds of beef a year. Which brings me to my

point--much of this beef, the vast majority of it by far, is filled with harmful

additives and is raised in such a way that it at best provides little more for

your body than something to fill your stomach, and at worst is contributing to

the degeneration of your health.

 

 

 

Think about it--do you really know where your prime rib or hamburger meat came

from? Where did the animal live? How was it raised? What did it eat? Was it

healthy or diseased? Perhaps you’d rather not think about it because you have an

intuitive feeling that the answer would not be pretty.

 

 

 

Most Commercial Cattle are Fed Grains

 

 

As more and more Americans realize the importance of eliminating or reducing

grains in their diets, beef is likely to become an increasingly popular

substitution. However, since nearly all cattle are grain-fed before slaughter,

if you eat most traditionally raised beef it will typically worsen your

omega-6:omega-3 ratio.

 

According to a study published in The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,

livestock that are fed on grain have more omega-6 fat, which may promote heart

disease, and less omega-3 fat, which is beneficial for cardiac health, than both

wild animals and grass-fed livestock.

 

It is therefore much to your advantage to eat grass-fed beef, but you must also

be careful as many stores will advertise beef as grass-fed when it really isn't.

They do this as ALL cattle are grass-fed, but the key is what they are fed in

the months prior to being processed. You will need to call the person who

actually raised the cows, NOT the store manager, to find out the truth.

 

The least expensive way to obtain authentic grass-fed beef would be to find a

farmer who is growing the beef who you can trust and buy a half a side of beef

from him. This way you save the shipping and also receive a reduced rate on the

meat.

 

An inexpensive, yet effective, way to determine if the beef is really from a

grass-fed animal is to purchase the ground beef. Slowly cook the beef till done

and drain and collect all the fat. Grass-fed beef is very high in omega-3 fats

and will be relatively thin compared to traditionally prepared ground beef. It

will also be a liquid at room temperature as it has very few saturated fats,

which are mostly solid at room temperature.

 

Hormones

 

 

Most traditionally raised beef calves go from 80 pounds to 1,200 pounds in a

period of about 14 months. This is no natural feat. Along with enormous

quantities of grain (usually corn) and protein supplements, calves are fed or

implanted with various drugs and hormones to, as the beef industry says,

“promote efficient growth.”

 

 

 

Any combination of the natural hormones estradiol, progesterone, and

testosterone, and the synthetic hormones zeranol and trenbolone acetate may be

given to cattle. Another hormone, melengesterol acetate, may also be added to

feed to “improve weight gain and feed efficiency.”

 

 

 

Measurable amounts of hormones in traditionally raised beef are transferred to

humans, and some scientists believe that human consumption of estrogen from

hormone-fed beef can result in cancer, premature puberty and falling sperm

counts.

 

 

 

Antibiotics

 

 

About nine million pounds of antibiotic feed additives are used annually in the

cattle-raising process. Many people don’t realize that the largest use of

antibiotics in the United States is to feed to animals, often so that they will

gain more weight, but also to prevent disease outbreaks that could easily fester

since the animals are raised in such crowded conditions.

 

 

 

This routine antibiotic use is contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic

resistance in humans. Animals raised in natural environments, not the

traditional “factory farms,” rarely require antibiotics. You may be able to find

antibiotic-free beef in your local health food store, but be sure to be certain

that it is grass-fed as well.

 

 

 

Along with antibiotics, traditionally raised cattle are given various vaccines

and other drugs. The following is just one recommended course of care for a

whole herd of cattle as shown on Pfizer.com:

 

CattleMaster 4+VL5: a 4-way viral plus 5-way leptospirosis vaccine and

vibriosis protection

UltraChoice 8: a vaccine to prevent clostridial diseases

Dectomax Pour-On or Dectomax Injectable: drugs to prevent and treat internal

and external parasites

ScourGuard 3®(K)/C: a vaccine to prevent calf scours

 

 

Irradiation

 

Some commercial beef is irradiated, which means it has been treated with gamma

rays produced by the radioactive material, cobalt 60, or electricity to kill

bacteria. The effects of long-term consumption of irradiated food products

remain to be seen.

 

This issue is virtually the same issue as with milk. Once milk is pasteurized to

“protect” us, it is seriously damaged and actually causes more harm than good

for most who drink it. However, if milk is consumed in its real raw form, then

it is typically an amazing health-producing food for most who consume it.

 

If you value your long-term health, I strongly encourage you to avoid irradiated

meat. All meats will not be irradiated, so your best bet is to purchase

non-irradiated meat.

 

Many may not be aware that school districts have the option of purchasing

irradiated beef for their lunch programs, and parental notification is not

required. If you are a parent you can work with your school district to

discourage the use of irradiated foods, or at the very least contact them to

find out whether irradiated beef is being served in your child’s school

cafeteria.

 

The following Web site has more information on how to work with your school

district to stop the purchase of irradiated foods: www.safelunch.org.

 

You can also contact your representative and senators today to urge them not to

support irradiated food in school lunches.

 

Environmental Problems

 

 

Alongside the dangers that traditionally raised beef pose to your health are the

dangers they pose to your environment. Substantial areas of forests,

particularly the rain forests of Central America and the Amazon, are being

cleared to make way for cattle. And in the United States, cattle production is a

major source of environmental pollution.

 

 

 

Among the most severe problems are water pollution from the nearly 1 billion

tons of organic waste produced by cattle each year and the enormous amounts of

petro-chemical fertilizers used to produce feed crops, and air pollution--waste

and waste treatment methods of grain-fed cattle are responsible for producing a

significant portion of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide (the three

major gases that are largely responsible for global warming), along with other

harmful gasses.

 

 

 

Inhumane Treatment of Cattle

 

 

Traditionally raised cattle are treated as commodities and are deprived of some

of the most basic requirements of life--fresh air, space and normal social

interaction.

 

 

 

 

 

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