One of my favorite things to do on the 4th of July is to have a backyard BBQ with family and friends.
There’s nothing better than a juicy burger from the grill topped with bacon and cheese. But it seems like almost every time I have a large group of people over for a cookout, one or two always ask me if I have a vegetarian option.
There’s nothing more all-American than a big thick, juicy cheeseburger.
Of course l provide plenty of choices for everyone to eat. After all, I want to make my guests happy. And most of the time, I can even manage to stop myself from telling them why not eating meat is bad for their health!
But it’s a whole different matter when these guests become my patients. That’s when I tell them that I recommend red meat as an important part of a healthy primal meal plan.
Red meat was our ancestors’ main source of protein and fat. And it’s what made us the big-brained humans we are today.
Think about it… it’s much harder to hunt meat than pick berries and vegetables. After all, plants can’t pick up and run away from us!
But our ancestors instinctively knew they needed protein and fat from meat. In fact, without meat, we never would have survived into the 21st century.1
Because every cell in our bodies requires protein to survive. And fat to thrive…
You see, protein is the major building block of life. You use protein to form, maintain and repair tissues. And it’s an essential component of muscles, bones, joints, skin, hair and blood. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones and immune-boosting antibodies.
And eating the right fat is equally important. Fat helps you transport nutrients around your body and deliver them where they’re needed. Vitamins A, D, E, K and CoQ10 can’t even be absorbed without fat.
But here’s where my vegetarian friends are right when they tell me that red meat is bad for you…
The meat that’s available in our grocery stores today is much different than the kind our primal ancestors ate. In fact, it can be harmful to your health.
Big Meat raises factory-farmed cattle that are not natural. They’ve been fed a steady stream of grain and soy, fattened and grown unnaturally with hormones, and kept alive by antibiotics.
And the unnatural living condition of animals in the modern food industry produces diseased animal fat. All of the herbicides, pesticides, toxins and hormones that the animal has been exposed to collect in the fat.
Modern farming techniques then prevent the animals from getting any exercise. This makes for an obese animal with the wrong kind of fat.
They end up with an unnatural — and unhealthy — concentration of omega-6 fatty acids. And then pass this concentration on to you.
And while you need both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for good health, the ratio of these acids in the Standard American Diet is way out of whack.
Our ancestors had a ratio of 1:1 omega-6s to omega-3s in their diets. That means for every bit of omega-6 they consumed, they also ate the same amount of omega-3s. In our modern world, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats we eat has skyrocketed to as much as 20 to 1.
As you know, omega-6 fatty acids are a direct cause of inflammation. And inflammation is the underlying factor in almost every modern disease — from diabetes and heart disease to arthritis, depression and cancer.
So during my cookouts, I’ll be serving grass-fed burgers to my guests. After all, it’s what the doctor prescribes!
Grill Out This Holiday with My All-American Bacon Cheeseburger Recipe
This recipe is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds organic grass-fed ground beef
- 1/3 cup heavy full-fat cream
- 6 to 8 dashes hot sauce
- 1 tsp. Himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 6 slices organic cheddar cheese
- 6 slices cooked bacon, cut in half
Directions:
- Preheat your grill to medium-high and brush with olive oil.
- Cook the bacon in a skillet until crispy.
- Combine beef, cream, hot sauce, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Mix well and shape into six patties.
- Place each burger on the grill, and cook 5 minutes. Flip and cook 3 minutes more for a medium burger.
- Top with cheese and bacon during the last minute of cooking.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Kluger J. Sorry Vegans: Here’s how meat-eating made us human. Time. March 9, 2016.