Are You Eating Toxic Meat?
by Vin Miller
When the topic of organic food comes up, most people think of fruit, vegetables, and perhaps dairy, but almost always fail to consider meat. This is an unfortunate mistake because meat from conventionally raised livestock comes with significant risk.
You Are What You Eat
Each of the trillions of cells that we’re made of are created from the nutrients we eat. While a healthy diet will support optimal cell function, a poor diet will promote cell malfunction and lead to disease. As the saying goes, we are what we eat!
This applies to animals as well. If forced to eat poor quality food, they’ll likely become sick and develop disease. By eating meat from these unhealthy animals, you’re relying on a poor source of nutrition and are consuming the toxic chemicals that made them sick. They’ll eventually make you sick as well. In other words, you are what your food ate! This is an important concept to keep in mind throughout the rest of the article.
Are Farmers Smarter Than Nature?
Understanding that livestock will do best on the diet they naturally eat in the wild is nothing more than common sense. Despite this, conventional farmers don’t even come close to raising their livestock in this fashion.
Based on millions of years of evolution, cattle and sheep eat grass while chickens and pigs primarily eat insects and plants. However, conventional farmers choose to ignore the significance of evolution and force their livestock to eat grain. In many cases, livestock are kept in enclosed buildings, and because they don’t have access to natural pastures, grain is all they eat.
How well do you think your health would hold up if you ate nothing but grass your entire life? It wouldn’t hold up at all! Because these animals are forced to eat foods that they’re not evolved to process, their health doesn’t hold up either.
Grain Quality Translates Into Meat Quality
As with most conventional crops, the grain fed to livestock is heavily sprayed with pesticides and other toxic chemicals. This causes health problems for the animals that eat the grain, and also for us when we eat the meat of these animals.
In addition to the chemicals, the conventional grain will probably have low nutrient levels. Based on all the consequences of the grain only diet, it’s highly unlikely that the livestock will receive the nutrition they need to support good health and this further compounds the risk of sickness and disease.
Furthermore, the grain that conventional farmers feed their livestock is often very poor in quality. In many cases, farmers save money by purchasing grain that failed inspection for human consumption, usually because of mold growth. Ironically, by eating meat from the animals that eat this grain, humans are exposed to the mold toxins anyway.
In general, the meat from purely grain fed livestock is not very nutritious, especially if the grain is of poor quality. The potential for the meat to contain toxins makes it a health risk as well.
Would You Like a Side of Antibiotics With That?
It’s clearly a big problem for a farmer to have sick livestock. The connection between unhealthy livestock and the grain only diet should be a matter of common sense. But instead of choosing to improve livestock health through a better diet, conventional farmers compensate by feeding their livestock grain that’s laced with antibiotics. How convenient.
Antibiotics originate from toxins produced by fungi. Although this may surprise you, it shouldn’t. After all, the phrase anti biotic literally means anti life. Antibiotics kill without discrimination, and as a result, good bacteria is killed along with the bad. This can easily lead to intestinal imbalance and destroy your health. Because antibiotics are toxins and enter your blood stream, they can also cause unwanted problems anywhere in your body.
In many cases, livestock are raised under such poor conditions that antibiotics just aren’t enough to keep them healthy. They become infected by parasites and develop cancer, glandular swelling, infectious arthritis, pneumonia, and other serious health issues. What’s most frightening is that the FDA allows the meat from these sick animals to be passed along to your plate as long as any relevant tumors or lesions are removed. Do you really want to eat the meat of a cancerous animals?
How About Some Newspaper and Cardboard?
Many conventional farmers are completely overcome with a greed based mentality. As such, they focus on efficiency and strive for quantity at the cost of quality. In exchange for easier profit, they’re sacrificing the health of their livestock, and more importantly, the health of the people who consume their meat.
To further reduce the cost of the already inexpensive grain, some farmers use fillers such as sawdust, cement dust, cardboard, newspaper, and sewage. Sounds tasty, doesn’t it? Before you answer, consider the fact that you may already be eating some of these fillers if you eat conventionally raised meat!
The use of these fillers provides the greedy farmer with another significant advantage that increases the incentive even further. In addition to reducing costs, the fillers also cause the livestock to gain weight. Because most farmers are paid by the pound for their livestock, this is an amazing deal. They not only save money on feed, but are also rewarded with additional profit. As you can probably imagine, only a farmer with the purest intentions would pass on this opportunity.
Hormones are Also on the Menu
For some farmers, the use of cheap grain and filler isn’t enough. To further accelerate growth, they feed synthetic hormones to their livestock.
Synthetic hormones are often associated with cancer. Furthermore, hormones can be very powerful in small concentrations and have a significant effect on our day to day function. It doesn’t take much to disrupt our delicate and complex hormonal balance, and when it does go out of balance, our health will often deteriorate significantly. Remember, if you eat an animal that was fed synthetic hormones, you’re eating the hormones as well.
Apparently, nature just isn’t fast enough for the business minded farmer. With the use of grains, fillers, antibiotics, and hormones, conventional farmers are able to bring a steer to full size in less than a year and a half. Under natural conditions, it would take 4 or 5 years! These animals are basically being transformed into mutants. Is that what you want to have on your plate every day?
A Quick Note About Dairy
Although this article is about meat, I want to quickly mention a related concern about dairy. Some farmers use a hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone which is specifically designed to increase the lactation period of cattle. In fact, it nearly doubles it. As with other synthetic hormones, rBGH is linked to cancer and can disrupt normal hormone balance.
Producing milk is a physiologically demanding process for cattle. Their bodies are simply not evolved to handle the amount of milk production that’s possible with rBGH. As a result, their utters often become inflamed and infected which causes puss to be secreted into the milk. How does that make a nice thick milk mustache sound?
The cattle that are injected with rBGH are literally milked to death and typically die after approximately two years.
Animal Cruelty
Some of the horror stories associated with conventionally raised livestock are enough to turn a meat lover into a vegetarian. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. As omnivores, eating animal meat is part of our evolution. Although vegetarians and vegans may argue this point, meat is quite simply a basic part of our natural diet. But this certainly doesn’t justify the inhumane ways that some farmers maintain their livestock.
In many cases, conventionally raised livestock are kept indoors where they get absolutely no exposure to sunlight, are so crowded that they can barely move, and are forced to live in their own feces. This merely scratches the surface of how bad the living conditions can be for these animals. This significantly impacts the health of the animal and the nutritional quality of it’s meat, but more importantly, it’s cruel, inhumane, and absolutely unnecessary.
Any time you buy meat or dairy that comes from conventionally raised livestock, keep in mind that you may be supporting these cruel and inhumane practices.
The Alternative – Buying Quality Meat
The good news is that there are plenty of healthy and humane alternatives to the meat that comes from conventionally raised livestock.
Although organic certification is a fairly reliable marker of high quality fruits and vegetables, that’s not entirely the case with meat. While organic meat is free of hormones, drugs, and other chemicals, it may still come from a predominately grain fed animal. Even though the grain must be organic, it still compromises the health of the animal and the quality of it’s meat. Furthermore, people who are sensitive to grains can also be sensitive to meat that comes from grain fed animals.
The absolute best way to buy meat is to find a local farmer that raises livestock according to their natural diets, under humane conditions, and follows organic farming practices. Don’t be overly concerned with organic certification. Local farmers often have too small of an operation to justify the expense, and by overlooking this, you may be missing out on an excellent resource.
Below are some guidelines on what to look for when evaluating a potential source of meat.
Beef and Lamb
Cattle and sheep naturally eat grass. As such, you should buy beef and lamb from farms that allow their livestock to roam freely on grass pastures. Meat from a pasture raised livestock is often referred to as “grass fed.” Verify that pesticides and other chemicals aren’t used on the pastures and that the animals are not treated with antibiotics or hormones. Some organic minded farmers will use antibiotics on rare occasion when an animal absolutely needs it. You’ll have to decide for yourself if this is acceptable or not.
Some organic farmers “finish” their livestock with grain. This means the animal was raised on grass pastures, but was fed grain for a brief period before slaughter to increase the flavor and marbling of the meat. Personally, I think this is completely unnecessary and think purely grass fed beef and lamb taste excellent, but once again, it’s your choice.
Chicken and Pork
Chickens and pigs have much more variety in their diet than cattle and sheep. Chickens eat mostly insects and plants while pigs will eat just about anything. Because these animals eat more than just grass, their meat is often referred to as “free range.” This means they’re free to roam the pastures of the farm and are free to choose what they eat.
I’m not sure if chickens and pigs eat grain in the wild. My guess is that they don’t, but it seems to be quite acceptable and common for organic farmers to supplement the diet of their chickens and pigs with grain. What’s important is that the animals have the freedom to roam the pasture and consume the natural food it provides.
As with cattle and sheep, you want to make sure the pastures are free of chemicals and that the animals are not exposed to drugs or hormones.
Where to Buy Locally and Online
As I said, the best option is to buy from a local farmer that you can trust. EatWild.com is an excellent resource that will help you find local farmers that have embraced the practices of grass fed, free range, organic and humane farming.
If buying from a local farmer isn’t possible or is too inconvenient, you can often find quality meat at local farmer’s markets. Check LocalHarvest.org for a listing of farmer’s markets in your area.
Finally, if you prefer the simplicity of having your meat delivered to your doorstep, an excellent place to order from online is U.S. Wellness Meats. You can click on their “Protocol” link to read about how they raise their livestock.
Another excellent place to order from online is Blackwing Quality Meats. I’ve ordered from both places many times and think their meat is excellent.
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A thorough look at all the ins & outs of eating meat. Well done, although I don’t agree about the actual eating of meat. Even with good sources of meat, there are few guarantees. Also, to look at it from one angle only, our teeth and digestive system are designed for a fruitarian diet.
Hi Pamir, thanks for your comment!
Not everyone can do well on a meatless diet and I’m one of them! Here are two relevant articles.
http://naturalbias.com/metabolic-typing-the-last-diet-youll-ever-need/
http://naturalbias.com/is-a-vegetarian-diet-healthy/
Why do you say our teeth and digestive system are not designed for meat?
I agree that there are some metabolisms that may need meat. At the same time there are so many good sources of non-meat protein and we don’t need as much protein as we’re told we do. I’ll have to post later on teeth and digestive system…
There are many good reasons to be vegetarian. This is from an enlightened teacher, Swami Sri Yukteswar:
Great information. I also like blackwing.com for 100% grass fed beef and bison.
Vin great article!!! This will really help me and my athletes that I train. No doubt about it, since you and your buddy Paul Chek enlightened me about the abundance of horrendous meat out there, I have noticed not only better tasting meat but I feel much better too! Thanks Vin
Vin, well written article, but I disagree on not everyone can do well on a meatless diet, there are trade offs in the decisions we make with our diets. Do you want to feel better today or do you want take a step toward living a longer life. One of the most important nutritional studies every done was the Framingham Heart study. What was concluded was that no one died of a heart attack that maintained a cholesterol level lower than 150mg/dl. Heart attacks are one of the leading diseases shortening the lives of Americans. Cholesterol is needed by our bodies for proper functioning and such our bodies produce all that is needed. All animals produce their own cholesterol. We do not need to eat it. But our culture does in large amounts of animal based foods, which meat falls in that category. Just eating animal based foods induces our bodies to produce more cholesterol. Why the bashing of cholesterol? In short, low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, the bad portion of cholesterol, when in high amounts in our bloodstream, tends to build up on our artery walls. This helps in forming plaques that narrow the blood vessels and may ultimately clog them and you will die. The narrowing of arteries is a long process and it brings a long list of low quality of life attributes as it progresses, not all immediately evident and largely wrongfully attributed to the aging process.
There are many reasons why not to eat meat, as you pointed out in your article, but also it is the least economic way of maximizing our the food chain. But the most important is a long and healthy life. One thing to remember, moderation only slows the process. Another, in athletic activities, the heart is the most important organ to train and nurture.
Hi George, thanks for your comment!
Regarding the Framingham study, I suggest you read the following book to get another perspective of it as well as most other cholesterol studies.
The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease by Uffe Ravnskov MD, PhD.
Furthermore, if you look into the work of Dr. Weston A. Price and Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, you will find that they studied many native cultures that lived on a very high intake of red meat without any significant issues relating to heart disease. In fact, these cultures enjoyed far better health than the average American. Eskimos are an excellent example. Their diet is extremely high in red meat and saturated fat. They are also some of the healthiest people on the planet.
Among other things, cholesterol is a precursor to important hormones, is essential for proper cell membrane and nervous system function, is a strong antioxidant, and is an important part of tissue repair. Regardless of how much or how little cholesterol is in your diet, your body will still produce however much it needs.
In regard to heart disease, cholesterol is used by the body to repair damaged artery walls. This is a sign of deeper levels of malfunction that cholesterol is merely there to fix. Blaming cholesterol for heart disease is like blaming a fire truck for starting a fire.
Go to http://www.westonaprice.org and look around, you’ll find plenty of excellent information.
You may also want to check out the article I wrote concerning the bias often found in modern scientific research: http://naturalbias.com/the-truth-about-scientific-research/
Pamir, thanks for sharing that interesting information, I will definitely look further into it! However, I don’t think it provides a suitable explanation for native people such as Eskimos that have very little access to plant based foods and eat a diet that is nearly all animal meat and fat. I think it brings us back to the original conclusion that over the course of millions of years, different cultures have evolved to thrive on different diets.
Great post and I love that it’s raising differing points of view.
I am passionate about animal cruelty and I became veggie for a year until I became anaemic because I just didn’t like enough of the right foods or know how to cook them.
I now have a completely organic diet. Meat from http://www.sheepdrove.co.uk which is just the most amazing quality you will ever get to eat. Veggies and dairy from http://www.rivernene.co.uk. You can absolutely taste the difference and I know that I am healthier as well as the animals living as they should do, instead of force feeding in barns with no air. Aaargh don’t get me started. Supermarkets are driving farmers to produce food at such a cheap price that the only way they can do it is unethically. I think governments have a role to play in making sure that supermarkets don’t force us down a route of eating poisons in our fresh food (meat and veg) as well as processed food which is barely more than a bunch of chemcials made to look and smell like food.
Well done Vin for raising such an important issue.
Thanks for a thoughtful post. I am writing to let anyone who cares about where their meat came from and how it was raised know about an impeccable source for certified organic and all-natural 100-percent grass-fed lamb.
Available online, Lava Lake Lamb http://www.lavalakelamb.com is raised humanely, sustainably and its sales support a major non-profit land and critical habitat conservation project in the Pioneer Mountains of Idaho. Lava Lake is also know for its innovative ‘predator friendly’ practices. The don’t shoot wolves.
Vin, you’ve a great blog here, you write clearly & thoroughly.
Just to wrap up on these thoughts, most people live in temperate climates. The Tibetans also have an animal flesh & fat diet since not much grows there either & yaks are plenty. It’s especially difficult for them since it’s a Buddhist country & nonharming is a core tenet.
As you may know there have been some reports that Horizon Organic has gotten so big that their practices are now questionable. I feel family farms need to be supported and protected against agribusiness. Still, there are no guarantees. After elucidating how meat is toxic I was very surprised at the conclusion of this post.
Those who fear anemia or lack of protein if following a plant-based diet need to look again at solid information.
There’s the ethical question of slaughtering & eating animals too. And just because it works for Eskimos doesn’t mean it will work for a city dweller for instance.
We live in a different world. The great thing about evolution is that it keeps evolving. I feel a flesh-based diet (including fish) leaves a huge human footprint.
Thanks for the compliment Pamir!
Even beyond the Eskimos, most cultures that are native to cold climates have a predominately meat based diet. If this is in your lineage, it doesn’t matter if you’re a city dweller or not. Your dietary needs will still be primarily based on your genetics.
Furthermore, the fast paced modern lifestyle hasn’t existed long enough to cause an evolutionary impact. If I remember the statistic correctly, it takes 100,000 years to change the human genome 0.01%.
In regard to the ecological footprint, I think it’s mostly a result of conventional farming and doesn’t apply as much, if at all, to properly raised livestock.
While I think you have some great points, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree about the need for some to eat meat.
Yes, agree to disagree & not to belabor the point
…
My lineage is nomadic horsemen from Central Asia. Really. Lamb chops were my favorite food for 35 years. I’m a vegetarian for 15 years & 100% healthy.
Neither lineage, genetics, nor any biological parameter is a concern if your spiritual practices are deep & consistent. We live in carbon-based bodies which can stay that way or we can break limits. We totally have that potential.
By the way, “properly raised” livestock still release methane which is a major contributor to global warming.
Fascinating article and comments! The conclusion I have reached is that humans have evolved to thrive on a very wide range of different diets but unfortunately the “Western” diet of grain fed, intensively reared meat and refined carbohydrates is not one of them!
I was vegetarian for 20 years because the way animals were reared was so horrific. Thank goodness there are now some better alternatives and more and more people are rejecting intensively farmed meat.
Thanks, Roz!
I completely agree and I think it’s important for people who become vegetarians for moral reasons to realize that there are alternatives. Have you read The Vegetarian Myth? I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve heard a lot of great things about it and it sounds like a book that you’d enjoy.