Your Meat is Too Fatty

Q:  My problem with the items is all of it basically. Just too much fat. It's like buying fat with meat and not the other way around.  The bacon, pork ribs and the hamburger meat were so fatty which was surprising, coming from a place that sells organic meat. We buy organic, grass fed meat from Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe's and American Farmer's Network and have never ever seen so much fat content in their meat. I understand about the body's need for good fat but too much of it is not good either. The body can only synthesize so much which means that if there is excess, it will contribute to plaque buildup in your vasculature. Yes, good fats are important but unfortunately, even good fats are very concentrated source of energy, providing more than a double the amount of calories in 1 g of carbohydrates or proteins, which is why it's important to choose the healthy fats and to eat them in moderation. You mentioned that the brain is made up of 70% fat- actually its 60% but not the kind of fat that is found in other parts of the body or from the the fat of meat we eat. The brain does not contain "fat cells", such as the kind that shrink when energy is scarce during dieting. All cells in the body, including the brain, are partially composed of "lipids," since lipid molecules are the main building block of the extracellular (outer cell) membrane. This gives the brain as a whole a high lipid content, but it is not from fat cells, and the lipids can't be metabolized for energy because they are structural. I hope that makes sense.

A: In the many articles on our site regarding fat and brain function the number I have used is "60%" fat. I did a search and did not see one reference to 70% fat. Many of our articles have been reviewed by lipid professionals. We happen to work closely with scientists and have even supplied grass-fed and Omega-3 meats to the NIH for their brain studies.

We do not close trim any of our meats. But, when they are on the fatty side, we do trim them to make a proper balance between fat and lean for each cut. We want fat in our meat and this link provides the data on why.  Look at the second table where it shows that the balance of essential fats (EFAs) Omega-6 to Omega-3 in the pure fat is healthier than in the lean muscle. BTW, this is fat for the brain.

Bacon is by definition mostly the belly fat of an animal. Too often our Beef Bacon is too lean for being the best kind of bacon. If you want lean, that's the one to get. Our pork bacon is a fatty bacon which makes it appear on the surface very much like bacon you'll buy anywhere. Lean bacon, similar to Canadian bacon, is a different kind of product and we make one like that too. The huge difference that you can't see in our pork bacon is the actual nutrients and EFA balance. In that respect our Omega-3 pork is the world's finest. (When cooking the bacon I sure hope you saved the fat for a cooking grease.)

As for grass-fed fats "contribut(ing) to plaque buildup in your vasculature" that does not happen. When the balance of EFAs are proper, such as in grass-fed animal and marine fats, plaque buildup is not an issue. In fact, grass-fed and marine animal fats help solve the plaque buildup problem! Linda, my wife, and I eat all the fat that comes on our meat and we eat a lot of meat -- nearly 100 pounds a month between the two of us. You can find my blood lipid test data in this essay. Take note of my heart health relative to the rest of the population. (Because of modern nutritional science we've been on this mission about proper fat consumption now since 1999. I suggest you take the test and see how you compare when eating the lean meats from Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and others who try to resonate with consumers' mistaken beliefs in order to make a sale. Correct, they are pushing a false narrative because that gets them more business. As you look over my test, keep in mind that my EFA ratios are even better today than in 2011 because of consuming fat.)

Of course Linda and I never eat grain and other high glycemic foods which are sources of quick energy. For energy we eat fatty meats and grass-fed cheese and grass-fed butter. We use grass-fed animal fats for cooking. For snacks Linda cooks up Omega-3 Chicken and Omega-3 Pork skins for cracklings. In fact, as I write this, at this very moment Linda is cooking up some Omega-3 chicken skins that came from the Skinless Breasts we sell. That's right, the Skin-On breasts are better for you -- if the chickens are our Omega-3 chickens. That's why our chicken meat is the healthiest chicken meat in the world -- bar none. It's the chicken the NIH uses in its brain studies for the army. That's an absolute fact.

There are many promoters of grass-fed meats who push lean. When they do I know immediately they do not understand modern nutritional science. They are pushing an old belief system brought on by GRAIN-fed livestock. As for our 10% grass-fed ground meat, which you think is fatty, it is too lean for Linda and me. When eating ground meat we always select our high fat ground meat for optimizing our health and eating pleasure. It is juicier and has more flavor.

Another fact, if you are eating for your health, you will not find healthier meats anywhere else in the world than what we sell. And our Omega-3 Pork and Omega-3 Chicken is an exclusive to JUST US. All of the major stores you frequent and other marketers of pork and chicken are all pushing pork and chicken meats that have fat and nutrient profiles that are nearly identical to what Wal Mart sells. That's another unequivocal fact.

Please check out the Education section of our website for scores of articles and reports that explain why we do what we do. We're not out of step with the big boys by accident or ignorance. It's because we really understand the science, we care, and we refuse to compromise even though 99.999% of the people out there don't understand us and, because of that, are being swayed away from proper nutrition by marketing pied pipers.

Ted Slanker

Posted March 7,2016