In the U.S., there’s a new “sin tax” being proposed for the purchase of red meat.
If it happens, we’ll be paying 34% more for a steak.
The government claims this will help recoup the health care costs caused by “meat eaters.”1
But taxing meat is barking up the wrong tree. It’s not the evil they think it is.
You see, red meat doesn’t cause heart disease — or high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer or early death.
As a matter of fact, we evolved to eat meat. Our primal ancestors thrived on its fat and protein. And without it, we never would have made it to the 21st century.
Almost every cell in your body needs both the protein and the fat from meat to survive. You use protein to build and repair tissues. It’s an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, hair, nails and blood. You use protein to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals.
And the 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 there is a problem with today’s red meat…
Ranchers aren’t interested in the quality of their beef. They care about making a profit. So they feed their cattle a combination of grain and corn.
But cattle evolved to eat grass. Today’s meat factories make cows diseased. So they’re pumped full of antibiotics. The antibiotics make them sick and they’re given more drugs. It’s an endless unnatural cycle.
These animals are also injected with growth hormones so they can be sent to slaughter that much sooner.
Because they are confined to a crowded feedlot, they never get any exercise. The result is an unhealthy ratio of omega-3s to inflammation-causing omega-6s.
And it’s this chronic inflammation from omega-6s that leads to heart disease and cancer…
Eat Like Your Ancestors
The solution is simple.
- Avoid commercially raised red meat. Choose grass-fed, pasture-raised, hormone-free beef.
I consider this to be perhaps the healthiest food you can eat. Compared to grain-fed animals, products from grass-fed animals have 10 times more omega-3 fats, more vitamins B, E, D and K2, more CoQ10 and zinc and more antioxidants like glutathione and superoxide dismutase (SOD).2
- Choose bison meat. All bison are grass-fed. In fact, this animal would rather starve than eat corn. Nutritionally, bison has more protein, iron and B12 than most beef. But what makes it a top meat choice is that it has more omega-3s — and a better omega-3 to omega-6 ration.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Springmann M, et al. “Health-motivated taxes on red and processed meat: A modelling study on optimal tax levels and associated health impacts.” PLoS One. 2018;13(11):e0204139.
2. Daley CA, et al. “A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef.” Nutr J. 2010;9:10.