We’re Being Promoted by a Nutritionist!

Health Benefits of Pasture-Raised Meat

Our farm’s meat is now being promoted by a local nutritionist! I *knew* I felt better when I started eating our own meat almost exclusively, but she has helped us with learning the WHY behind it. We know that raising animals on pasture is healthy for the animals, the earth, and for the people who care for them but here’s why eating pasture raised meats is significantly healthier for YOU too!

Extra Omega-3s

Meat from grass-fed animals contains two-four times more omega-3 fatty acids (good fats) than conventionally raised meats. Omega-3s play a vital role in every cell and system in your body and people who have ample omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure and are remarkably 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack.

In animal studies, omega-3s have slowed the growth of a wide array of cancers and kept them from spreading.

Omega-3s come from the chloroplasts of green leaves and algae (which is why seafood is also high in omega-3s) and when cattle are removed from fresh grass and put in a feed lot to consume grain, their omega-3 levels drop every day they are away from their natural environment.

Chickens and pigs raised conventionally indoors do not eat any greens and are therefore nearly completely devoid of omega-3s.

Considering a majority of Americans are deficient in omega-3s, and 20 percent have blood levels so low that no omega-3s can even be detected, switching to pasture raised meats is an easy way to boost our overall health.

CLA Bonus

Meat and dairy from grass-fed ruminants are the richest known source of another type of good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" or CLA. When animals are kept on only pasture, their meat and dairy products contain 3-5 times more CLA than products raised on conventional diets. Much research is currently underway and CLA may be one of the most potent defenses against cancer.

Vitamin E

Meat from pasture raised animals is also four times higher in vitamin E than feedlot cattle. Vitamin E is linked with a lower risk of heart disease and cancer and even has anti-aging properties. A majority of Americans are found to be deficient in Vitamin E.

Weight Loss

Switching to leaner pasture-raised meats can help you lose weight too! A 6 ounce steak finished on grass can have 100 calories less than a 6 ounce steak from a feedlot cow. If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 lb/year) switching to pasture-raised beef will save you 17,733 calories a year without requiring any willpower or change in eating habits. If everything else in your diet remained the same, you'd lose about 6 pounds a year! Many grass-fed producers (including the Blustery Bovine) make sure their animals have ample amounts of fat and marbling for flavor and only send them to processing in the summer and fall, but even this meat still contains less fat than beef raised on grain.

Here’s the 6 month belly and it’s even bigger now at 7 months! Luke got a really nice doe this hunting season on our own property and taught the kids how to process a larger animal (they had only done poultry before). We are enjoying the coming cold and shorter days that are giving us more rest and family time all hanging out around the fireplace.