Meat Your Match
Meat has gotten a bad rap over the years, and recently the controversy over whether it deserves a place in our diet has grown. With meat taking center stage on lots of Yom Tov tables, I thought now would be a good time to take a closer look at it.
According to the National Institute of Health, “To date, extensive research did not show evidence to support a role of dietary cholesterol in the development of CVD. As a result, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans removed the recommendations of restricting dietary cholesterol.”
Based on my education and research, I feel that for most healthy people, red meat can have a healthy, if somewhat limited, place in your diet. Of course, people with higher cholesterol, or those whose doctor is advising otherwise, should limit or avoid it according to the advice of their healthcare practitioner.
The controversy doesn’t end with cholesterol, though. Today there’s lots of talk about grass-fed versus grain-fed beef and poultry. There are varied opinions (of course), but here’s mine in a nutshell.
The healthier the diet and lifestyle of an animal, the healthier its meat will be. The two main concerns I have regarding commercially raised meat are the living conditions and the diet they are provided. The cramped, largely indoor living conditions, the use of antibiotics and growth hormones, and the GMO grain- and corn-based diet they are fed, all serve to increase levels of stress hormones and other hormones in the animals, altering the hormonal makeup of their meat — and affecting ours as well.
The way that meat is raised these days — and chicken, too, for that matter — is really different than the way it once was. My now-retired zeidy ran Bookman’s Kosher Meat in Lakewood from 1950. When he heard about organic meat and chicken years ago, he called it a new-fangled idea, until I explained that organic meat and chicken is just raised the way it was when he started out as a butcher — the animals can actually cluck and peck or graze around the yard or field and do what cows and chicken do. The problem is, raising cattle and chickens that way is not as fast or as cost-efficient as are huge, packed indoor barns with little room for movement.
While most of the meat sold in Israel is still grass-fed, in the US and Canada, it is either grain-fed or “grass-fed and grain-finished” — meaning that the animals are fed grass until shortly before slaughter, when their diet is changed to corn and grains to fatten them up. Those in the food industry like to feed their livestock grain because the outcome is a fattier, juicier meat. Grain-fed meat is preferred by most consumers for that reason, too, but it’s not as optimal from a health perspective.
There are different health-conscious companies that follow different standards in raising their cattle or chicken more naturally to give consumers a more healthful end product. Some companies use only organic feed; some let their cows or chickens roam freely and don’t give them growth hormones or antibiotics. Check out Rorie Recommended below for companies that ship nationally in the US. There might be more options in your local grocery store.
If you are someone who does not eat so much meat and don’t want the added expense of special company standards, stick to your current shopping list. But if you are (or want to be) a frequent meat eater, consider aiming for the healthier-raised options more often to help lighten the load.
Wishing you simchas Yom Tov in the fullest sense!
Rorie
Rorie Recommends: Kol Foods and Grow & Behold Recently, Kol Foods has become the top-of-the-line seller of completely grass-fed, growth-hormone-free, glatt kosher meat around the US. Grow & Behold is another health-conscious company that offers a few product lines; some fully grass-fed, others grass-fed and grain-finished, and other various conditions that you can choose from.
Click here for Rorie’s Full N’ Free Meatballs recipe!
As a health coach certified in integrative nutrition, Rorie shows the frum community how to incorporate healthy habits into our lifestyle in a delicious, fun, doable way, one small step at time. Rorie is the health ambassador of Kosher.com, creator of Rorie’s Dough Mixes, and founder of Full ’N Free, LLC. To learn more about Rorie and her dough mixes, recipes, programs, and services, visit www.fullnfree.com. All statements are suggestive only. Please consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes.
(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 709)
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