CLA may be one of our most potent defenses against cancer
In laboratory animals, a very small percentage of CLA --- a mere 0.1 percent of total
calories ---greatly reduced tumor growth. Researcher Tilak Dhiman from Utah State University
estimates that you may be able to lower your risk of cancer simply by eating the following grassfed products
each day: one glass of whole milk, one ounce of cheese, and one serving of meat. You would have to eat five times
that amount of grainfed meat and dairy products to get the same level of protection.
Evidence suggesting that CLA does reduce cancer risk in humans
In a Finnish study, women who had the highest levels of CLA in their diet,
had a 60 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those with the lowest levels of CLA. Switching from grainfed to grassfed
meat and dairy products places women in this lowest risk category.
Highter in Vitamin E
In addition to being higher in omega-3s and CLA, meat from grassfed animals is higher in
vitamin E. The meat from the pastured cattle is four times higher in vitamin E than the meat from the feedlot
cattle and, interestingly, almost twice as high as the meat from the feedlot cattle given vitamin E supplements.
Grassfed meat
lower in calories
Fat has 9 calories
per gram, compared with only 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates. The greater the fat content, the greater
the number of calories.
If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to
grassfed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any willpower or change in eating
habits. If everything else in your diet remains constant, you'll lose about six pounds a year. If all
Americans switched to grassfed meat, our national epidemic of obesity would begin to diminish.
Extra Omega-3s
Although grassfed
meat is low in "bad" fat (including saturated fat), it gives you from two to six times more of a type of "good"
fat called "omega-3 fatty acids."
Omega-3 fatty acids play a vital role in
every cell and system in your body. For example, of all the fats, they are the most "heart friendly."
People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular
heartbeat. Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to have a serious heart attack.
Omega-3s are essential for your brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less likely to
be afflicted with depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's
disease.
Another benefit of omega-3s is that they
may reduce your risk of cancer
In animal studies, these essential fatty acids
have slowed the growth of a wide array of cancers and kept them from spreading. Although the
human research is in its infancy, researchers have shown that omega-3s can slow or even reverse the extreme weight
loss that accompanies advanced cancer.6 They can also hasten recovery from cancer surgery.
Furthermore, animal studies suggest that people with cancer who have high levels of omega-3s
in their tissues may respond better to chemotherapy than people with low levels. Omega-3s are most abundant
in seafood and certain nuts and seeds such as flaxseeds and walnuts, but they are also found in grassfed animal products.
The reason that grassfed animals have more omega-3s than grainfed animals is that omega-3s are
formed in the green leaves (specifically the chloroplasts) of plants. Sixty percent of the fat content of grass is
a type of omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic or LNA.
When cattle are taken off
grass and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on grain, they lose their valuable store of LNA as well as two other
types of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. Each day that an animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of
omega-3s is diminished.
