"We are living in a world today
where lemonade is made from artificial chemicals and
furniture polish is made from real lemons."
- Alfred E. Newman
You can be assured that when you buy our Pasture Finished
Meats you are making a healthy choice for you and your
family. As compared to grain fed beef, a diet including
Pasture Finished Meats naturally promotes good health
due to…
- No treatments of hormones or antibiotics.
- Lower total fat, which means fewer fat calories
per serving.
- Half the amount of saturated fat.
- Lower cholesterol levels.
- 2-6 times higher levels of Omega-3 essential fatty
acids and normal ratios of Omega-6 fatty acids.
- 4 to 5 times more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA),
an anticarcinogen.
Pasture-fed beef tends to be lower in total fat. Yet
our bodies require fat - the right kinds and in proper
proportion to each other. You will find this ‘healthy
fat’ in the meats from livestock fed natural diets
of grasses and clovers. Fatty acids have an essential
role…
- Building blocks for cell membranes.
- Made into hormones.
- Slow down absorption so we can go longer between
meals without feeling hungry.
- Provide a concentrated source of energy.
- Act as carriers of important fat-soluble vitamins
A, D, E, K, and mineral absorption.
- Contain cholesterol (the good kind).
A fatty acid is saturated when hydrogen atoms occupy
all available carbon bonds. As straight molecules, they
pack tightly together and are solid at room temperature.
A fatty acid is polyunsaturated when two or more carbon
atoms are double bonded to each other and are missing
four or more hydrogen atoms. Wherever there is a double
bond in the fatty acid chain, there is a kink or bend.
The two polyunsaturated fatty acids most commonly found
in our foods are Omega-3 and Omega-6. The Omega indicates
the position of the first double bond or kink. "Kinky"
molecules don't pack together and are liquid even when
refrigerated. Your body cannot make Omega-3 (Linolenic
acid) or Omega-6 (Linoleic acid) so they are called
essential. What should be striking is how seemingly
insignificant the change in the shape of the molecule-
a kink here and not there- and yet how dramatic the
impact on our health!
Omega-6 is found primarily in seeds, such as grains.
It should be no surprise then that it exists in higher-than-normal
concentrations in grain-fed beef. Cattle, sheep, and
goats evolved for millions of years on a diet of grasses,
with only small amounts of seeds (grains). It has only
been 100 years, since the invention of the combined
harvester, that our ruminant animals were ever fed grain!
Thus the Omega-6/Omega-3 ratio has been out of balance
in our diets ever since.
Pasture-fed cattle have 2-6 times more Omega -3 than
grain-fed cattle. The ideal ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3
for optimal health is less than 4 to 1*, yet most American's
diets are estimated to be 20 to 1. (In addition to grain-fed
beef, this imbalance can also be blamed on excessive
consumption of processed carbohydrates- products made
from refined flour, which comes from grain.)
Omega-3, among many other benefits, is a potent anti-cancer
agent. It also is known to reduce blood pressure and
lowers heart attack risk. *
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is created when Omega-6
molecules join together. Current research suggests,
among other benefits, that CLA…
- Is anti-carcinogenic.
- Reduces body fat.
- Is anti-diabetic.
- Is anti-antherosclerosis (heart disease).
- Builds muscle.
100% Pasture Finished beef has 500% more CLA than grain-fed
beef. ** "Feeding grain anytime in a ruminant's
life does lower the CLA percentage in the meat at processing.
Apparently, they never get over it." **
Try this taste test comparing Thundering Hooves grass-fed
beef with grain-fed beef.
- Purchase a pound of lean ground beef from your local
supermarket (virtually all commercial beef is grain-fed
unless labeled otherwise) and compare it to a pound
of Pasture Finished ground beef from Thundering Hooves.
- Make it fun and choose a “jury” of
family or friends.
- Make an unseasoned hamburger patty from each ground
beef sample and cook in separate skillets (on medium-low
heat) until it is no longer pink inside (a meat thermometer
should read 155 degrees).
- Drain the grease from each skillet into separate,
equal-sized glass jars or cups and observe what happens
over the next few minutes…
- Take a bite of the grain-fed ground beef first.
Move it around the roof of your mouth before swallowing.
You should notice a pasty feeling on the roof of your
mouth. (This is the saturated fat mentioned earlier!)
- Cleanse your palate with some water.
- Take a bite of the Thundering Hooves Pasture Finished
ground beef. Move it around the roof of your mouth
before swallowing. (Don't let us influence you! But
you will notice a flavorful, clean and natural beef
taste.)
Don’t forget your 2 containers of grease.
We thought that we would find more fat drained from
the skillet from the grain-fed beef. As it turned out,
this was not the case! Why? The type of fat makes the
difference!
We know through various studies that grain-fed beef
has about twice as much saturated fat. This fat (tallow)
is solid at room temperature and apparently did not
cook out of our sample.
Further evidence became obvious when we observed the
difference between the fats in the two jars over the
next few minutes. The grain-fed beef fat became cloudy
and turned solid in a very short period of time. But,
the Thundering Hooves grass-fed beef fat was noticeably
clearer and remained a liquid through the rest of our
meal!
For the grain-fed beef (with twice the saturated fat
to begin with), a significant amount of fat remained
in the meat- even when cooked! A double whammy!
It’s never too late to begin a healthy
diet. So why choose Pasture Finished Meats?
- Pasture Finished meats are preventive. They help
keep healthy people from getting sick.
- Pasture Finished meats are regenerative. They help
people who have chronic health problems get well.
- Pasture Finished meats are additive. Eating grass-fed
food products helps to accumulate CLA in the body
tissues.
So what’s on your plate? Healthy meats
for healthy living!
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