The Six Dangers of Common Beef and How to Avoid Them

[Guest guest]

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. My book " Cracking the Cancer Code " reveals this process

in-depth.

 

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. Alternatively, you can order

authentic grass-fed beef from our site.

 

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. Along with the health benefits of

the grass-fed beef on our site, you can rest assured that the animals

are raised in their natural environment--a green pasture.

 

For more information on healthy meats of all kinds and other healthy

foods, I encourage you to check out my newest book: " Cracking the

Cancer Code: The Secret to Transforming your Health from Inside-Out. "