Howdy folks, it’s Dr. Sam and I received a question yesterday – does red meat help you in terms of your eye health and overall wellness?
There was a study that came out of California State University that compared grain-fed beef with grass-fed beef. The results show that grass-fed beef is much healthier for you. Now I would add organic grass-fed beef to make sure you’re not getting hormones or antibiotics in your meat because this can actually cause inflammatory responses in the digestive system and dietary absorption issues.
So in terms of the benefits of organic grass-fed beef, it has something in it called CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). This is a polyunsaturated fat that has been shown to reduce heart disease, cancer, and balance blood sugar levels.
Now in terms of the ingredients in organic grass-fed beef: it has Omega-3, which is wonderful for your eye health – the retina, the optic nerve. It’s got B-Complex, so a lot of the B vitamins are in it. It also has amino acids and trace minerals.
Where can you get it? Your local health food store may have organic grass-fed beef – ours in Santa Fe offers organic grass-fed beef. I also enjoy ButcherBox, which delivers a monthly supply of grass-fed, organic, and sustainably raised meats right to your door. (You can check out discount offers for our community here)
According to Chinese medicine, beef is considered a sweet meat on the five element theory and more prone to putting on weight than other animal foods. My first choice for winter is lamb, because it has a bitter energy and is very warming. Goat meat is also one of my favorite meats, primarily because I raise goats. I usually have my butcher cut the meat into large pieces with the bone left in, and I simmer the meat in a pot of water with herbs and salt until the meat falls off the bone.
Then I remove the meat and place the bones into another pot to make bone broth and either use the meat in my soup, adding appropriate vegetables, or serve with some cooked vegetable side dishes.
Boiling or stewing meats makes them the most digestible. A fried or grilled burger is very hard on the digestion and can cause heart burn, especially if you lack digestive enzymes (common as we age)
The chinese have a famous five spice mix which helps to digest meat and is good for marinating along with some soy sauce, water and wine; Indian cooking has wonderful recipes using digestive spices and herbs. You can greatly enhance the benefits of meat by using traditional cooking methods to better break down the proteins and fats. The Chinese five spices are said to make the meat more heating and not cause weight gain.
Here in Montana where I live you can also find free range buffalo –more expensive than beef, but generally much leaner. Also, in season elk is usually available at my local butcher. These meats have different texture than beef and definitely taste a bit more gamey.
I make a lot of bone broth this time of year as I can get free bones from the butcher in town who does slaughtering for the local ranches.
Since I have been using bone broth my desire for red meat has greatly diminished, incidentally, and I generally only need a couple of ounces a few times a week during the cold weather. I find that as soon as summer sets in my need and desire for red meat disappears.
Thank you for sharing, Eunice. Bone broth is certainly a healthy choice.