Grassfed Meat and Fat are Healthy

[Guest guest]

Grassfed meat can help with weight loss and grassfed fat is infinitely more

healthy than conventional meat fat.

 

“Living off the fat of the land” used to mean living the good life. For most of

history, eating fat was associated with wealth, luxury, the best food, robust

good health, privilege and success. Animal fat was the most prized of all foods,

often reserved for nobles, the wealthy, and the privileged. The less fortunate

and the great mass of the people had their access to meat and animal fat

restricted, and could never get enough. America became known as the nation where

even the poor could hunt freely, and get all the fat and meat they wanted. Many

immigrants came to America for this reason alone. America developed a meat

industry that could provide cheap and nutritious meat and fat to all, which

continued to attract immigrants even in the 20th century.

It is so ironic that animal fat became demonized in the United States of

America. The most nutritious of all foods became the most avoided.

 

Health Benefits of Grassfed Animal Fat

 

It used to be that almost every roast and steak sold in the United States was

crowned with a thick, gleaming layer of its own life-giving fat. This was known

as a fat cap. Fat caps were considered absolutely essential in cooking roasts.

The fat cap kept the meat from drying out, and cooked down into the meat,

providing a wonderful flavor and life-giving nutrients. When the fear of fat

became dominant, the meat industry cut the thickness of the fat caps to ¼ inch,

and soon discarded them altogether. Now, most of the roasts and steaks sold in

the United States have just about all of the fat trimmed off and discarded. The

trimming of the fat has become so universal that most people do not even know

what a fat cap looks like. I have included four photos of meat with fat caps,

both before and after cooking.

 

One of my goals is to bring back the fat cap. The health benefits of fat from

grassfed animals are huge. The omega-3s, CLA, and co-factors in grassfed animal

fat provide the following benefits:

 

• Crucial nutrients such as vitamins A, D, and K in an easily assimilated

form

• Many other minerals, vitamins, amino acids, essential fatty acids (EFAs),

all easily assimilated

• The proper balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids

• Increase the metabolic rate

• Increase muscle mass while reducing fat

• Decrease abdominal fat

• Strengthen the immune system

• Reduce the risk of cancer

• Reduce the risk of heart disease

• Reduce the risk of diabetes

• Reduce the risk of hyperthyroidism

• Slow the aging process

• Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s

• Preserve and promote normal brain function

• And many other health benefits

 

Fat Caps Improve Taste

 

I also want to bring back the fat cap because it makes the meat taste so much

better. As the meat cooks, the melting fat bastes it and enters the meat, giving

the meat a wonderful flavor and enhancing tenderness. Whenever we roast meat, we

always put plenty of vegetables in the pan, so they can cook in the melted fat.

Vegetables roasted in this manner have a wonderful caramelized taste and a

magnificent texture. Most of the vegetables we roast this way are organic root

vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, celery, carrots, and

others. They all come out wonderful, roasted in the life-giving fat from the

cap, which makes their nutrients available and much easier to assimilate. We’ve

also found that apples are wonderful when roasted in this manner. The fat also

prevents the negative effects associated with the high carbohydrate content of

some of these vegetables.

 

Finally, the hot, crisp, browned fat of a roast or a steak used to be a prized

delicacy before fat was demonized. When the roast is cooked, there should be

some nice, crisp, browned fat on top of the roast which can be sliced and eaten.

This fat is absolutely delicious if eaten hot, and gives you all the nutritional

benefits of grassfed animal fat.

 

Grassfed Animal Fat Helps Weight Loss

 

Many people are surprised to learn that the fat from grassfed animals aids in

weight loss and prevents obesity. Before the demonization of fat, most doctors

prescribed high fat diets to their patients who wanted to lose weight. These

diets were quite successful and Americans were much thinner when they ate a diet

high in grassfed animal fat. The CLA and co-factors in grassfed animal fat

actually cause the body to increase lean muscle mass and stop storing fat.

Nothing is as satisfying to eat as grassfed animal fat, which is so full of

nutrients that your hunger is satisfied after eating a relatively small amount.

One of the biggest reasons that people overeat is that their bodies desperately

crave the nutrients that are missing from factory food. No matter how much they

eat, they are still hungry, because the nutrients are not in the food.

 

Bring Back the Fat Cap

I constantly lobby producers of grassfed meat to leave the fat cap on the meat.

Each set of photos shows meat with a nice fat cap, before and after I cooked it.

I invite all of you to join me in asking your meat provider to leave the fat cap

right where it belongs — on the meat.

 

 

 

Stan Fishman is the author of Tender Grassfed Meat. His book describes in detail

how to cook grassfed beef, grassfed bison, and grassfed lamb. The book follows

the nutritional principles of Dr. Weston A. Price, and uses only the best

natural ingredients. The book can be purchased through Amazon.com.

 

 

 

See this intriguing blog post by the author of Tender Grassfed Met:

 

http://hartkeisonline.com/2010/03/03/fat-on-grassfed-meat-is-healthy-claims-cook\

book-author/

 

Kimberly

Reston, VA