ORGANIC BEEF - GRASS FED NUTRITION

This information was sent to me along with an order for organic beef roasts from:

ALDERSPRING RANCH

http://www.alderspring.htm

Because our beef is raised by us, and fed only grass and hay on Alderspring Ranch in the beautiful Pahsimeroi Valley in east-central Idaho, we can assure you that neither our regular or organic beef have ever been given:

-antibiotics
-hormone growth implants or feed supplements
-pesticides, insecticides, pour-on or internal wormers
-feed additives or animal byproducts.  This is your best protection from BSE (mad cow
  disease) and genetically modified organisms / GMOs)

EDITORS NOTE:I firstly want to report that this beef was so tender, I only needed a fork to cut
the meat and I actually could eat it without all my teeth in my mouth to be honest.
This meat is not only healthy, it can even be eaten by people with dentures.

Here are the details:

VITAMIN E:  When fed on grass, cattle take in around 15 times more vitamin E per day than they do on a typical concentrate diet, and levels on the meat can be between two and three times higher as a result.

BETA CAROTENE:  is an anti-oxidant and vitamin A precursor, and given grass fed beef a rich yellow colored fat rather than Crisco-white colored fat.  Grass fed beef contains up to 5.5 times more beta carotene compared to grain finished beef and cattle fed fresh growing grass contained up to 11 times more than cattle fed dried forages.  In fact, the levels of beta carotene can decline up to 97% during grain feeding.

CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID (CLA) Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a nutrient found in the fat of ruminant animals that feed on green grass.  Researchers are excited about CLA because it is anti-carcinogenic at much lower dosages than many other naturally occurring anti-carcinogens. Grass finished beef has three to five times the amount of CLA as grain fed beef.

Research suggests CLA may:

1. Prevent breast cancer especially when present during mammary tissue development
2. Suppress other cancers
3. Inhibit and reduce atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries)
4. Lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood
5. Induce a relative decrease in body fat and increase in lean muscle mass
6. Increase bone health and formation
7. Normalize or reduce blood glucose levels and control and possibly prevent diabetes
8. Enhance immune system function
9. Combat allergies and asthma

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS:  What does grass fed beef and salmon have in common?  Both are excellent sources of an essential fatty acid, omega-3, that is in short supply in the modern American diet. Grass-fed beef is not only lower in overall fat and in saturated fat than grain finished beef, but it also has the added advantage of providing more omega-3 fats. When cattle are taken off grass, however, and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on grain, they immediately begin losing the omega-3s they have stored in their tissues. As a consequence, the meat from feedlot animals typically contains only 15 percent as much omega-3s as that from grass-fed livestock. Additionally, animals finished on grain have a dramatically different fatty acid profile, with an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 14:1 or higher, compared to that of grass fed beef with an omega-6/omega-3 ratio as low as 1:6.

Table 1. Fatty acids and calories in 100gs of uncooked lean meat

Fatty Acid Class Pronghorn antelope Mule Deer Elk Bison Grass fed Beef Grain fed Beef
Saturated 875 972 664 421 933 2028
  stearic 441 401 172 197 327 651
  myristic, palmitic 434 571 492 224 606 1377
Mono-unsaturated 582 732 508 444 754 2114
Polyunsaturated 530 463 399 182 191 291
  Omega-6 442 359 343 156 139 275
  Omega-3 88 104 56 26 52 16
Calories 117 119 112 104 112 136
Protein (g) 22.4 22.6 22.4 21.8 21.8 21.7
Fat (g) 2.5 2.7 2.0 2.4 2.4 5.0

From Modeiro. L.C. 2002. Nutritional content of game meat. 8-920R. College of Agriculture, University of Wyoming.

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