From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Mon Oct 30 2000 - 17:22:42 MST
Dave Sill wrote:
>
> Michael S Lorrey <retroman@turbont.net> wrote:
>
> > And what 'commercial meat' are you talking about? Typically cornfed beef
> > is the main culprit in any meat diet, but free range beef is as healthy as
> > beans, fish, or chicken. The danger of the modern meat diet comes from the
> > practice of raising the animals on a corn diet in unsanitary conditions
> > with little exercise.
>
> What exactly is your beef with cornfed beef? Is it the fact that the cattle
> eat corn, the fact that they're finished on feedlots, or both? I raise myown beef and finish them for a couple months on sweetfeed (grain products
> including corn + molasses) plus grass. If I should be avoiding all corn, I'd
> like to know that, and why. Of course my cattle are hormone free and the
> only chemicals I use are those necessary for pest control--and I use them
> less often than I should, due mostly to procrastination.
Any cornfed domestic animal will have much higher fat and cholesterol levels
than ones fed on the range. Of course, fatty foods taste better to many people,
and its easier to bulk your animals up on corn than grass, so its more
profitable for the farmer to operate on a corn diet of various degrees. I don't
know the biochemical differences between corn and other grains like wheat or
rice, but it is the newest major domesticated grain, and thus the least likely
for humans or their domesticated animals to be adapted to digesting efficiently
or healthfully. I can understand the draw, as I appreciate the taste of a couple
ears of ripe Butter and Sugar corn in a nice fall barbecue, but I'm sure if
given the chance I'd develop a taste for crack if I could legally buy a dozen
hits for a dollar. Thats essentially what corn is: its the crack cocaine of
domesticated grains, and nearly as bad for you as cane sugar.
>
> > My own meat diet consists primarily of fish, eggs, venison, chicken, buffalo,
> > and ostrich, with possibly 5-10% beef somewhere in there, though I've
> > eliminated beef completely in the last month to measurable benefit. Rice,
> > pasta, tomatos, salads, mushrooms, broccoli, and other veggies make up the
> > rest.
>
> Just out of curiosity--I don't doubt your word--but what measurable benefit
> can you attribute to cutting out 5-10% beef? And what is the basis of that
> percentage: calories of total diet, protein by weight, or what?
I can't tell you any specifics. I cut it out, and I'm now much better for it. I
don't count calories or weigh myself, as I don't want to develop any obsessive
behaviors in my diet... It is, though, difficult to not notice a difference in
waist size of four inches.
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