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Is beef generally healthier and cleaner than pork and chicken? This is partially true because Ruminants like cows, goats, and sheep are polygastric, but really the quality of meat depends on how the animals are raised.
Conventional pork and chicken are often fed corn, soy, and even literal garbage. Additionally, these animals lack the biological systems necessary to remove all these toxins from their bodies, meaning that when you eat them, you’re ingesting all the harmful substances they consumed.
Conventional pork and chicken are subjected to TERRIBLE diets.
In this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPbF45-ZB5M, a maintenance technician at a pig feed facility exposed what was being fed to pigs (the technician was fired two days after posting the video, no surprise there).
You can see cardboard, plastic, and other types of trash being ground up and shipped away to be fed to pigs. This practice is called “garbage feeding” and is legal in 27 states in the US. The facility in the video is run by Smithfield Foods, a Chinese-owned entity that's the largest pork producer in the United States.
Meat Quality matters! It is very important to choose pasture-raised or regeneratively-raised meat.
You can get them from clean sources like White Oak Pastures or US Wellness Meats. You can also visit www.regenerativefarmersofamerica.com to find a regenerative farm in your area. Just make sure that they don’t feed their animals corn, soy, and other garbage.
If you have no other option, eating conventional beef is significantly better for you than pork or chicken.
Pork and chicken are monogastric animals, meaning they have a single-chambered stomach.
Ruminants like cows, goats, and sheep are polygastric, meaning they have a multi-chambered stomach.
Monogastric animals are fed PUFA-containing foods (corn and soy) and lack the gut bacteria to convert them into saturated fats. Pork and chicken have also been bred to accumulate PUFA in their tissues because it makes them fatter with fewer calories. This means they store PUFA right in their fat tissue, sometimes in higher amounts than seed oils.
Ruminants, on the other hand, have a remarkable ability to convert PUFAs into saturated fats in their rumen. This means that even if their diet contains high levels of PUFAs, they can easily convert them into saturated fats before absorption.
Monogastric animals are less capable of breaking down and neutralizing toxins. They also lack sweat glands, which are another avenue for toxin elimination in many other species. Consequently, toxins accumulate in their fat.
Ruminant animals have an extensive microbial population in their gut that helps them detoxify harmful substances before absorption. Additionally, the multiple stages of digestion allow for better processing and elimination of toxins. This makes their meat significantly cleaner, even with a poor diet.
Interestingly, cleaner pork and chicken are significantly darker (clean pork almost looks like beef), and egg yolks are much yellower. If you do not have access to pasture-raised or regeneratively-raised meat, always choose beef over chicken or pork. Alternatively, get lean cuts like pork loin or chicken breast, since the majority of toxins are stored in the fat.
Process of Cooking Matters
Cooking meat at high temperatures creates carcinogenic compounds called HCAs and PAHs. These compounds form while grilling or pan-searing and wreak havoc on your DNA, causing mutations that can lead to cancer. To avoid this, cook your meat on low heat.
If you prefer to eat grilled meat, consider cooking it with or supplementing it with natural antioxidants. There are multiple foods, supplements, and herbs known to fight HCAs and PAHs directly.
The first thing you can do is marinate meat in rosemary and onion before cooking. Rosemary extract and quercetin, contained in onions, have been shown to inhibit HCA formation by up to 90% (PMID 9675297 & 20492265). Marinating your food with these ingredients before grilling is an easy and delicious way to prevent HCAs from forming.
Additionally, certain foods are known to specifically combat HCAs and PAHs, backed by research:
Matcha Green Tea Leaf Powder: Contains EGCG, which protects against DNA damage caused by carcinogens.
Sulforaphane: Found in high concentrations in broccoli sprouts, it produces enzymes that remove carcinogens from the body.
Curcumin: A powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound that protects against DNA damage.
Thank you 🙏