Consumers often choose to eat grass-fed beef to improve their health. A paper published last year in Frontiers in Nutrition sheds new light on this subject. It goes beyond the usual topics of healthy fat and protein. The paper by Fred Provenza and two other scientists is titled “Is Grassfed Meat and Dairy Better for Human and Environmental Health? In addition to citing existing research on the topic, the authors point out areas where further research is needed to improve our understanding of human and environmental health.
In summary, the paper concludes that “Circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that phytochemical richness of herbivore diets enhances biochemical richness of meat and dairy, which is linked with human and environmental health.” Here are a few key points from the paper.
· The health of livestock, humans, and environments is tied to plant diversity—and associated phytochemical richness—across landscapes. Health is enhanced when livestock forage on phytochemically rich landscapes, is reduced when livestock forage on simple mixture or monoculture pastures or consume high-grain rations in feedlots, and is greatly reduced for people who eat highly processed diets.
· Phytochemicals in herbivore diets protect meat and dairy from protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation that cause low-grade systemic inflammation implicated in heart disease and cancer in humans. Yet, epidemiological and ecological studies critical of red meat consumption do not discriminate among meats from livestock fed high-grain rations as opposed to livestock foraging on landscapes of increasing phytochemical richness.
· The global shift away from phytochemically and biochemically rich wholesome foods to highly processed diets enabled 2.1 billion people to become overweight or obese and increased the incidence of type II diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
· We are members of nature's communities. What we do to them, we do to ourselves. Only by nurturing them can we nurture ourselves.
This paper underscores the role of farmers and consumers as members and caretakers of a biological community. Our own health depends on our ability to encourage a diversity of life around us. Here at our farm, we strive toward this by practicing to mimic mother nature. We look forward to learning through our own practice and through the ongoing research like this paper has presented.
Here’s a link to view the full paper:
Is Grassfed Meat and Dairy Better for Human and Environmental Health?
Frederick D. Provenza, Scott L. Kronberg, Pablo Gregorini
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00026/full