The Blog Archives

5 reasons why YOU need meat

So back to the basics - since cave man days, only humans have been equipped with the expertise of extracting every last bit of nutritional content from the edible world around us. So if we've been thriving off meat for years, then how come we are still alive?! Exactly. So if you are eating the best quality meat and cooking it perfectly, then you don't have a problem The secret to getting the most out of your meat? Leave it on the bone. The more everything stays together the better - the fat, bone, marrow, skin and connective tissue REASONS FOR EATING MEAT:
  1. Meat on the bone will bring enough of the glycosaminoglycan growth factors and bone-building minerals to make a child's joints strong and their bones tough. In adulthood, these same factors will keep your joints well lubricated and your bones strong from ageing. Also, the collagen that is found in the bone and skin of the meat helps keep your skin tight and inflammation down.
  2. It is so tasty when cooked properly and allows all the other flavours to come out. Slow cooking meat gives a complex flavour which means good nutrition! The more chemical diversity in your slow cooker or oven (bone, fat, skin, blood, muscles) the more chemical diversity if releases on your tongue and you can taste it! This rich, flavoursome meal means that nutrients are on their way!
  3. Animal tissue is a warehouse for calcium, potassium, iron, sulfate, phosphate and sodium and chloride. These tissues are broken down in slow cooking and create a seriously rich and comforting flavour.
  4. Meat contains amino acids! Although some health food stores sell taste enhancers like 'aminos' these are no better than hydrolyzed soy sauces and have stimulatory effects that can lead to nerve damage. When consuming these fake amino acids without their normal complement of nutrients (calcium/magnesium), these can cause temporary migraines and dizziness.
  5. Animal meat contains ANIMAL FAT. We need to cook with animal fat just as we always have. Animals historically hunted for the fattest animals and would even leave the lean muscle meat behind for the wolves. Fat is a source of energy and a major building material for our cells. Unlike sugar is doesn't trigger the release of insulin, which promotes weight gain and cravings. Also, as you've probably heard me harp on about before - vitamins A, E, D and K are fat soluble and so in order to get these vitamins, we need to eat them with fat.
In order to get the full quality of the meat, you must buy grass fed and finish meat or organic poultry because of it's higher omega 3 content and thus you can eat the fat without ingesting any harmful antibiotics or chemicals. But in order to get these omega 3 fats along with K2, and conjugated linoleic acids, you have to get the meat with an exterior layer of fat. Additonally the animal fat should be used to cover/cook your vegetables with. When fatty acids bind to their receptors, it affects other taste buds such as their ability to detect sour, salt, and bitter flavours. So if you wondering why the hell butter makes broccoli taste 5 million times better, and roasting veggies in olive oil has become your new addiction... that is why. Fat brings out the flavours in vegetables and humans LOVE it. Side note: Don't overcook your meat. You loose so many nutrients and they don't just dissapear. They are ingested into your body and you won't be able to flush them out easily. THIS is when carcinogens can be formed. When meat is cooked properly, fewer harmful reactions occur and the nutrients and flavour compounds survive and can be released via the meats juices. Do you have trouble digesting meat?
  • Try using the slow cooker - this starts the process of breaking down the meat to make it easier on your digestive system
  • Have a shot of apple cider vinegar before eating meat to boost digestive enzymes
Resorce: Deep Nutrition, why your genes need traditional food by Catherine Shanahan Picture