Grass Fed Beef: Leaner, Less Fat, and Fewer Calories
Cattle by design are ruminant animals, which means they have multi-compartmental stomachs intended to convert low quality plant protein into high quality feed. Ruminants have difficulty digesting cereal grain (corn, oats, etc.) because they lack a critical enzyme needed to metabolize starch. The simple act of feeding grain to cattle loads their bodies with fat and calories, robbing the meat of much of its nutritional value.
The meat from animals that have spent 150 days in a feedlot (a normal amount) where they are fed primarily grain has six times more fat than grass-finished meat, with a third of that being saturated fat. A six ounce steak from a grass-finished steer has 100 fewer calories than a six ounce steak from a grain-finished steer. By comparison, a grass-finished steer has nearly the same fat content as skinless chicken breast.
As we have all seen and heard low carb diets are very popular. Almost anyone can testify from first hand observation that if adhered to they will help dieters lose weight.
By removing grains, breads, and pasta from their daily meals and supplementing those food sources with meats and dairy products from grain-finished livestock, the dieter is replacing carbohydrates with conventional proteins that are high in saturated fats and which in turn will raise cholesterol levels. Replacing the same carbohydrates with grass-finished beef, a healthier source of protein, is a more positive solution.
Since grass-finished beef is so much lower in saturated fat and total fat than grain-finished beef, the dieter can still loose the weight associated with a low carbohydrate diet without all the fat intake and increase in cholesterol.
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