Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
Diabetes Study Proves Nothing about Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
photo credit: Alan Vernon. Bison grazing in Yellowstone National Park.
Once again, we are hit with yet another study claiming that red meat increases our chances of getting a horrible disease—Type 2 diabetes. It joins a host of other studies claiming that eating red meat increases the chances of just about every chronic disease you can think of. In fact, since humanity ate mainly red meat and saturated animal fat for most of its existence, we must be extinct, since all those diseases would have wiped us out long ago, when we got almost all our calories from meat and fat. All of these studies still have one thing in common. They totally fail to distinguish between the factory meat that did not exist until the twentieth century; and grassfed and wild meat, which has been the basic food of humanity for most of its existence. Since all the studies claiming that meat is unhealthy are based on people eating factory meat, these studies are totally meaningless when it comes to grassfed meat.
Grassfed Meat Is Different
There are many differences between the composition of grassfed meat, and factory meat.
Grassfed Meat Has:
- A perfect balance of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids;
- Considerably more CLA (conjugated linoleic acid);
- The benefits of having the animals eat the food they were evolved to eat, which is natural for them;
- A natural balance of nutrients, which our bodies have evolved to use over hundreds of thousands of years, if not more.
Factory Meat Has:
- A gross imbalance of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids, which does not occur in nature;
- Far less CLA;
- The detriments of having the animals eat a totally unnatural diet in the feedlot, including GMO soy, GMO corn, animal by-products, restaurant waste, and many other things that were never the natural food of grass-eating animals;
- An unnatural balance of substances in the meat, often including growth hormones, antibiotics, chemical residues, and others.
The very composition of the two kinds of meat is so different that consumption of factory meat is very different than eating grassfed meat.
The Study Fails to Prove that Eating Red Meat Increases the Risk of Diabetes
As I once wrote before, it is crucial to study the study before you blindly believe the conclusions drawn from the data. I have carefully looked at the latest study, and my own opinion is that it has no proof that any kind of unprocessed meat increases the risk of diabetes.
Why did I reach this conclusion?
The study concluded that eating red meat was associated with an increase in Type 2 diabetes, and seemed to recommend that people stop eating red meat on a regular basis.
But the data was inconclusive, with even the scientists who conducted the study admitting that it was hard to pinpoint the actual dietary factors that caused an increase in Type 2 diabetes risk.
The study was limited to roughly 60,000 doctors and nurses, and consisted mainly of reviewing food questionnaires sent in by the participants over a multi-year period.
The study did find a correlation in increased Type 2 diabetes risk by those who ate the most red meat. The increase for those who ate unprocessed meat was approximately one-third the risk increase of those who ate processed meat. But the data also showed the following:
- Those who ate more meat also consumed more sugary soft drinks;
- Those who ate more meat also ate considerably more calories, which almost certainly included a lot of refined high-carbohydrate foods;
- Those who ate more meat drank more alcohol.
Many studies and other research have shown that increased consumption of sugar (from the soft drinks), alcohol, and refined high-carb foods is directly related to causing Type 2 diabetes.
The people who ate more sugar, more alcohol, and more refined carbohydrates had a higher incidence of diabetes, which is exactly what you would expect, regardless of their meat consumption. Since we know that sugar, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol can cause Type 2 diabetes, the amount of meat eaten proves nothing.
But what about the result that eating processed meat had a much higher risk factor than eating unprocessed meat?
The answer is simple. Almost all factory-processed meats contain substantial amounts of added sugar, whether in the form of sucrose, fructose, dextrose, or just sugar. In addition, almost all factory-processed meats contain substantial amounts of industrial salt, which often has sugar added to it. In other words, the people who consume more of these processed meats are consuming more sugar. In other words, the sugar added to the processed meat would increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, all by itself.
It is totally unknown whether the consumption of meat has any relevance at all to the risk of Type 2 diabetes, because you cannot separate it from the consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates in this study. It is impossible to know whether the increase was caused just by the higher intake of sugar, alcohol, and refined carbohydrates; or by the combination of this with more red meat; or by red meat alone.
Although I believe the researchers to be sincere, their conclusion that red meat causes an increase in the risk of Type 2 diabetes is not supported by the data in their study, in my opinion. It is also clear from reviewing the remarks of the researchers in various articles that they already believed that eating red meat is unhealthy.
I will point out that this study, like all the others, failed to distinguish between eating grassfed meat and factory meat.
But there is an earlier study that addressed the affect of eating wild and grassfed meat on chronic disease. Dr. Weston A. Price spent ten years traveling around the world to study the diets of traditional peoples. Most of the peoples he studied ate plenty of wild game, and/or grassfed meat and fat. As long as these people ate their traditional diet, they had none of the chronic diseases common to the modern world. They had no cancer. They had no heart disease. And they had no Type 2 diabetes.
It is reasonable to conclude that if eating red meat caused Type 2 diabetes, the peoples studied by Dr. Price would have a diabetes epidemic, because they ate so much wild and grassfed red meat. But since they had no diabetes at all, it is equally reasonable to conclude that eating wild or grassfed red meat did not increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes. I will also point out that these people did not eat sugar or refined carbohydrates, and their diet was considerably lower in carbohydrates than modern diets. Of course many other factors were involved, but you cannot deny the fact that they ate large amounts of wild and grassfed red meat, and they did not get diabetes.
As a personal observation, I know many people, including myself, who eat red grassfed meat on a regular basis. I eat it almost every day, sometimes several times a day. I love it. It makes me feel good and gives me strength. None of those people, including me, have any symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. Not a scientific study, just real life observation.
Finally, I do not eat factory meat. It tastes like blah, and makes me feel stuffed rather than great. I love grassfed meat!
This post is part of Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Rich Pasture Means Delicious, Fragrant, Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Rich grass on John Wood's farm.
Recently the issue arose on Facebook as to why some grassfed meat might have a strong, almost fishy smell. The opinion was expressed that the steer might have eaten wild onion or wild garlic, which are known to give a bad taste and smell to milk. Should a good grassfed farmer remove wild onion and wild garlic from their pastures?
As I do not raise grassfed meat, (though I certainly cook it and eat it), I posed the question to two of the best grassfed ranchers I know: John Wood of U.S. Wellness Meats, and Chris Kerston of Chaffin Family Orchards.
John qualifies because his meat is always delicious, and smells great while it is cooking and even better when it is done.
Chris qualifies because his meat is also always delicious, and also smells great at all stages of cooking and eating.
John has never had an issue with wild garlic or wild onions, and has not noticed them on his land. John is of the opinion that a good stand of grass usually chokes out wild garlic and wild onion. John’s pastures have some of the richest, greenest, most beautiful grass I have ever seen. John has substantially increased the density and richness of his grass by rotational grazing techniques, and by enriching the soil with ancient vegetable matter. Meat from his farm, raised on that wonderful grass, is in a class of its own, in my opinion. I have eaten a lot of John’s beef over the last six years.
Chris said that what the animal eats has a huge effect on flavor. Eating a lot of wild garlic and wild onion will have a big effect on the taste and smell of the meat However, Chris is opposed to removing wild garlic and wild onion from grazing land. As Chris pointed out, removing any natural plant from a pasture will affect the natural balance, and something else will take its place. Chris stated that cattle will not eat pungent plants like wild garlic and wild onion in normal conditions. They prefer sweet grasses. Cattle will eat pungent plants for medicinal purposes, and Chris has observed his cattle treating themselves by eating certain pungent plants and grasses when they have a need. However, this is only done on a short-term basis. Also, the amount of pungent plants they eat for this purpose is in small quantities, not enough to interfere with the flavor or smell of the meat. The other situation where cattle will eat wild garlic and wild onion is when they do not have enough other suitable feed (like grass) to eat, and will eat anything out of hunger. This could certainly affect the taste and smell of the meat. I have visited Chris’s farm, and seen the beautiful rich, green grass the cattle graze on. Grazing is rotated to enrich the soil and the grass. The soil on Chris’s farm is particularly rich, and has never been sprayed with chemicals. It provides dense, sweet, green grass that the cattle love. The grass gives the cattle a deep, beefy flavor that I love.
It is clear that having plenty of good sweet grass, and providing adequate pasture prevents the problem.
You can buy John’s meat at U.S. Wellness Meats.
Chaffin Family Orchards does not sell its meat over the Internet, but you can buy it directly from the ranch or at the farmer’s markets where Chaffin sells meat, or some buying clubs. Chaffin does sell its magnificent olive oil over the Internet. This olive oil is my absolute favorite, and my first choice for marinating meat.
While John’s Missouri grassfed beef tastes different from the California grassfed beef raised by Chris, both tastes are wonderful, and I love to eat both of them.
This post is part of Monday Mania and Real Food Wednesday blog carnivals.
Raw Vidalia Salsa Provides Balance for Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Raw vegetable salsa goes so well with grassfed meat.
Many traditional peoples would always eat vegetables with their meat. Since meat is acidic, and vegetables are alkaline, this helped them maintain a proper pH balance in their bodies.
It is a German tradition to eat plenty of vegetables with steak, and a Latin American tradition to eat a raw vegetable condiment with meat, in the form of a salsa, chimichurri, or Pebre.
My upcoming barbecue book includes several such recipes for raw vegetable condiments. This recipe did not make it into the book, because I invented it last week, and the book is done except for the index, which is well on the way. It is a very tasty and satisfying recipe, so I thought I would print it here as a gift for my readers.
This recipe combines the sweetness of organic Vidalia onions with traditional salsa ingredients to form an absolutely delicious side dish for any grassfed meat. The fresh vegetables are full of enzymes and other nutrients, which will help with digestion. While it calls for organic ingredients, the equivalent of organic is just as good.
INGREDIENTS:
5 ripe red organic tomatoes, finely chopped
1 medium organic Vidalia onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 organic red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 organic green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
¼ cup fresh organic cilantro leaves, finely chopped
2 stalks organic celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unfiltered organic extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unfiltered raw organic apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon freshly ground organic black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse unrefined sea salt, crushed
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon organic hot sauce of your choice, depending on how hot you like it (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Let rest in a covered bowl for an hour before serving. Tastes best at room temperature. You can refrigerate this for a few days, if you have any left.
This post is part of Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival, Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Finally! Modern Study Proves the Benefits of Grassfed Meat
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Eating this delicious grassfed steak will increase the omega-3s in your bloodstream. Much tastier than fish oil!
I have been convinced for a long time that eating grassfed meat is much healthier than eating feedlot factory meat. Our ancestors ate grassfed meat, and thrived on it. The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price ate grassfed and wild meat, and thrived on it. Many studies have shown that grassfed and grass-finished meats have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a perfect balance of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids, and a much higher level of CLA.
But the factory meat industry has been able to produce other studies claiming that the difference in omega-3 fatty acid content between grass-finished and feedlot meat is minimal. It has also been claimed that any difference is meaningless, since the omega-3 fatty acids are supposedly destroyed when cooked.
Yet there has been no study on the issue of whether people actually get more omega-3 fatty acids when eating grassfed and grass-finished meat instead of feedlot meat. Until now.
An Irish study, reported in the British Journal of Nutrition has shown that people who eat grassfed meat have significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood when compared to people eating feedlot meat.
The study was of healthy people. All the meat eaten by one group was grassfed and grass-finished. All the meat eaten by the other group was feedlot meat. I assume the meat was cooked, as the abstract of the study would have mentioned if the meat was raw. After four weeks, the blood of the two groups was tested.
The blood of the group that ate grassfed meat showed significant increases in omega-3 fatty acid levels. It fact, the increase was so dramatic that it was comparable to the omega-3 levels of people taking fish oil capsules. The omega-3 levels in the blood of the group eating feedlot meat were much lower than the grassfed group.
This is very important, because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is totally unbalanced in favor of omega-6 fatty acids. Most Americans have a large imbalance of omega-6 fatty acids.
An excess of omega-6 fatty acids has been associated with a substantially increased risk of cancer, heart disease, obesity, rapid aging, and many other problems. Many doctors advise their patients to take fish oil capsules to help with the imbalance, as a proper balance can help reduce the risk of all these illnesses.
I would much rather enjoy the wonderful taste and tenderness of grassfed meat, as a delicious way to increase the omega-3s in my blood.
In other words, I will continue to eat grassfed meat as a way to support the natural functioning of my heart and body. I will also continue to eat grassfed meat because it tastes so much better.
Now we finally have a well-conducted scientific study that confirms the lessons of history, tradition, and common sense—grassfed and grass-finished meat is much better than feedlot meat.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
When It Comes to Meat — Study the Studies First
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grass—the ideal food for cattle
It was the first hour of the first class on my first day in law school. The teacher, a man who actually practiced law during the day, and taught it at night, wrote a statement on the blackboard. I can still see the words in my mind. “There is no truth.â€
Being a believer in the truth of science in that time, I had to challenge that. I asked, “But what about scientific truth, established by properly conducted studies?â€
The teacher, an attorney of vast experience, answered—“No matter what position you take in a lawsuit, you can always find an expert to support it, and the expert can always find studies to support his position. You will find an expert who will testify that 2 plus 2 equals 3, and the other side will find an expert who will testify that 2 plus 2 equals 5. And each of them will find studies to support their completely contradictory positions. That is why there is no truth, at least not when you are practicing law.â€
After more than a quarter century as an attorney, I found his words to be absolutely true. Whenever there was an issue of science, psychology, medicine, or just about anything else, each side in the lawsuit was able to find an expert, often a superbly qualified scientist, to support their position. And every expert was able to find studies to support his or her support of that position.
This is not to say that every scientist is corrupt. But it does show that scientists who study the same issue often come up with results that contradict each other. The differences arise from the details of the study, the assumptions made that will be accepted as fact but not tested, and the bias, both subconscious and actual, of a scientist whose future income depends on pleasing the customer who is paying for the study. It is crucial to understand these factors before you accept the conclusions of a study as true.
Let us look at the studies on meat, for example. We have been bombarded for the last fifty years with study after study that claims that meat is unhealthy. According to various studies, meat causes heart disease, cancer, strokes, aging, and many other illnesses. In fact, if you believe all of these studies, it seems impossible for humanity to exist—given the fact that most generations of humans ate mainly meat and fat, you would have expected our ancestors to have died out from all these diseases long ago, rather than thriving and multiplying.
I have read study after study about meat. And one crucial fact emerges—nearly all of these studies treat all meat, whether raised with or without artificial hormones, raised with or without subtherapeutic antibiotics, fed their natural diet or an artificial one, fresh, or heavily processed meats loaded with preservatives and artificial chemicals, as being the same for the purposes of the study.
I have always found the assumption that all meat is the same to be flawed. This assumption makes it impossible to tell if the results are caused by the meat or by the chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives added to some of the meat.
Two Swedish studies have shown how vital this detail is. The first study, done on Swedish women, treated all meat as being the same, and found that eating “meat†increased the risk of stroke. This study was heavily publicized by the Reuters news agency.
The second study, done on Swedish men, differentiated between fresh meat and processed meats. This study found that fresh meat made no difference in the risk of stroke. This study also found that eating meats processed with chemicals and preservatives did increase the risk of stroke, as shown in this article.
The conclusion I draw from these studies is that it is the chemicals and preservatives added to processed meats that are to blame for the increased stroke risk, not the meat itself.
I am aware of only one study that reviews the effect of grassfed meats on human health, but that study is the most extensive ever done. Dr. Weston A. Price studied traditional peoples eating the diets of their ancestors. Dr. Price actually visited every people he studied. The study lasted ten years, and is described in detail in Dr. Price’s magnificent book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Dr. Price did not let bias interfere with his analysis—a very spiritual man, he had hoped and expected that these healthy peoples would be vegetarian, but faithfully reported the fact that they thrived on animal foods.
Most of the peoples studied by Dr. Price ate plenty of meat and fat as part of their traditional diet. The meat was grassfed or wild. No chemicals. None of these people had cancer, or heart disease, or stroke, or any of the chronic diseases that plague modern society.
Part of the findings of Dr. Price’s study is that grassfed meat and fat do not cause disease, but support the natural functions of the body, enabling these people to thrive. This is a conclusion I completely agree with.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Related Post
Traditional Barbecue Methods Are Worth the Effort
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Pastured pork spareribs barbecued the traditional way.
Convenience has a high price. I just threw out an old cookbook that was all about making cooking easier by using prepackaged mixes, canned soups, broth cubes, microwaves, and other modern ways to make cooking easier. The main cooking skill you needed to use this book was the ability to open packages. Nothing was mentioned about the miserable nutritional profile of such “foods,†or about the effects of all the chemicals and preservatives. Or the fact that real cooking tastes so much better.
Convenience is a big part of modern American barbecue. Gas grills, pellet grills, premade factory sauces, premade factory rubs, premade factory marinades, all make barbecuing so convenient. The problem is that this convenience destroys the very factors that make true barbecue so delicious and nourishing.
I used to barbecue on an electric-powered grill that used wood pellets as fuel. You could actually set the temperature for how hot you wanted it, in degrees just like an oven. All you had to do was make sure the hopper was full of pellets, and then turn it on. It was easy to use. I thought the food cooked on it had a nice flavor, much better than any gas grill.
Well, a funny thing happened in the two years I spent writing my upcoming barbecue book. I decided to try to recreate traditional barbecue methods. This meant making a real fire, with real lump charcoal, or hardwood briquets that were made completely from hardwood, or burning hardwood down to coals. This meant making all my own marinades and bastes, from scratch. I got a common kettle grill that was powered by nothing but my own body and the fires I built in it. I used this grill to cook every meat recipe in the book, at least twice. And the barbecue I produced on this traditional style grill was so much better than the pellet grill, there was no comparison.
It was less convenient, and took a bit more effort. But it was worth it.
I decided that I was going to make the most traditional American sparerib barbecue I could, for a friend who came over two days ago.
I made an heirloom baste that was developed in the 1930s, by simmering various fresh vegetables and spices for hours, straining the liquid, and refrigerating it overnight, then adding a few traditional seasoning liquids, and simmering it again.
I used this baste as a marinade for some pastured spareribs, which sat in the baste for two days.
I built a fire out of hickory wood and hickory charcoal, and burned it down to coals, using tongs to move various pieces so they would fit properly in the fire bed.
I drained the ribs, boiled and strained the baste that had marinated them.
I made a rub out of various traditional spices, and sprinkled it all over the ribs.
I cooked the ribs slowly, first with moderate heat, then with low heat, basting them every 20 minutes, for two and a half hours.
We were rewarded with spareribs that were so good it is hard to describe them. So tender, with a nice pink smoke ring, and the kind of deep, smoky barbecue taste that can only be created by real barbecue, with a real fire, made with real fuel. That taste was so outstanding and memorable that I am still savoring it, two days later. It was the real thing.
No gas grill, no pellet grill, no processed condiments will ever come close to producing the real thing.
It was well worth the effort.
This recipe for spareribs is advanced, but I was trying to make the best ribs I possibly could, in the old style.
I intentionally kept most of the recipes in my upcoming barbecue cookbook simple and easy to make. All of these recipes rely on the magic of real fire, real fuel, real seasonings, and real grassfed and pastured meat to make totally delicious and nourishing food.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
Bulgarian Food Wisdom and Dr. Weston A. Price
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
photo credit: Evgeni Karalamov
The people of Bulgaria are famous for their long life spans, and robust good health. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was discovered that the Bulgarians lived longer than any other known people, having an astonishing number of centenarians. In fact, Bulgaria had a higher proportion of people 100 or older than any other nation. The question of why the Bulgarians lived so long and were so healthy has been studied for a long time. The original credit for Bulgarian health and longevity was given to a strain of bacteria found in their yogurt. This discovery led to yogurt becoming popular all over the western world. However, yogurt is only a small part of the traditional Bulgarian diet. A careful examination of the traditional foods of Bulgaria shows that they ate a diet quite similar to the diets eaten by the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price.
No wonder the Bulgarians lived so long and were so healthy!
The Diets Studied By Dr. Weston A. Price
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist in the early twentieth century. He noticed that each generation of his patients was less healthy than the previous generation and had worse teeth. Dr. Price decided that the answer was in nutrition, and he spent ten years traveling around the world to study healthy peoples who ate their traditional diets. He also studied what happened to these peoples when they ate modern food. Dr. Price discovered what the healthy peoples ate, and what they did not eat. The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price did not have the chronic diseases that plague the modern world, like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.
Dr. Price discovered that the healthy traditional diets had many things in common with each other.
High Animal Fat Consumption
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price ate a huge amount of animal fat from healthy animals, either pastured or wild. This included dairy fats such as butter, cheese, and cream, the natural fat of all kinds of animals, and the fat contained in the internal organs of animals, such as liver and kidney.
The traditional Bulgarian diet was full of animal fat from pastured animals and wild game. The natural fat of the animal was eaten with the meat. Meat was often cooked with large amounts of butter. Butter and cheese were often a vital part of traditional breads. Organ meats were very popular, even being eaten in soup. Large amounts of yogurt were eaten. The yogurt was always full-fat. A popular traditional drink was Aryan, which was made of yogurt and cold water blended together. Meat roasting in front of a fire was often basted with a chunk of animal fat. Large amounts of full-fat cheese were also eaten. Many Bulgarian breads and pastries were made with huge amounts of butter, often stuffed with full-fat cheese, or with cheese as a basic ingredient.
Meat and Game Eaten with Fat
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price valued meat as a food, whether it came from pastured animals or wild game. These peoples always ate meat with fat.
Pastured meat of all kinds was valued in Bulgaria, and wild game was a favorite. Meat in Bulgaria was almost always served with the natural fat, cooked with fat, and served with other foods containing fat.
Large Amounts of Organ Meats
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price valued the organs of animals as food, and ate large amounts of organ meats, particularly liver, but also heart, kidney, and many other organ meats.
The traditional Bulgarian diet valued all kinds of organ meats, serving them in many forms, with “Organs Soup” being a favorite dish.
Wild Fish and Seafood
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price ate plenty of wild fish and seafood if they could get it, with fish eggs being a valued food.
Wild fish and seafood were favorites in Bulgaria, and were widely and frequently eaten as part of the traditional diet. Fish eggs were valued, and often served.
Eggs and Poultry
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price ate large amounts of eggs, poultry, and other wild birds, if these foods were available.
Eggs and poultry were an important part of the Bulgarian diet. Eggs were not only eaten as a valued dish, but were added in large amounts to many other foods, such as traditional pasta and baking.
Fermented Foods
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price ate some fermented foods, often made from vegetables, on a daily basis.
Sauerkraut and other fermented foods were widely used in traditional Bulgarian cuisine, often being served at every meal in small quantities.
Fresh Vegetables and Fruits Grown in Rich Soil
Some of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price ate substantial amounts of vegetables and fruits, which were always grown organically, without chemicals, in rich soil full of nutrients.
Bulgaria had some of the richest soil on earth, and was famous for the wonderful qualities of their fruits and vegetables, which were widely eaten, and a crucial part of traditional cuisine.
No Refined Foods
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price did not use refined or industrial foods, like processed sugar. Everything was made from scratch, and the only processing was traditional ways of preserving and fermenting food. When a member of one of these healthy peoples moved to an area where they ate refined foods, they quickly lost their health, and often their teeth.
The Bulgarians traditionally made everything from scratch, using only traditional ways of preserving and fermenting foods. The Bulgarians did eat desserts made with lots of refined sugar and flour, but only on very rare occasions such as religious holidays. These rarely served desserts were served with a meal that was full of healthy fats and other healthy foods, which limited the damage done by the refined foods.
A Healthy Attitude Towards Food
So many people today are afraid of food. Traditional foods like animal fat are demonized, and blamed for almost every chronic illness. Traditional peoples did not blame food for disease, but saw their food as the very stuff of life, the source of life and health. Their traditions of how to cook and combine foods were carefully followed and provided excellent nutrition.
There is much evidence that modern processed foods create nutritional deficiencies that lead to all kinds of illness. This was never true of traditional foods prepared and served in traditional ways.
The traditional Bulgarian attitude towards food was very similar to that of healthy traditional peoples. The idea was to let your appetite be your guide as to what you should eat, and how much. In other words, eat what you desire, and as much of it as you desire, and let the needs of your body as expressed by your appetite be your guide.
This attitude works very well with traditional foods, containing the full range of needed nutrients.
Unfortunately, this attitude can lead to disaster with factory foods, which often lack vital nutrients, and are full of all kinds of artificial chemicals, sometimes chemicals designed to make you want to eat more of a particular processed food.
My solution is to avoid all factory foods, and let my appetite be my guide when I am eating real food only. It works beautifully.
The similarities between the diets studied by Dr. Price and the traditional Bulgarian diet are no coincidence. The principles discovered by Dr. Price are the best guide to great nutrition, and the traditional Bulgarian diet is yet more evidence of this fact.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
Grassfed Meat and Fat are Ideal for Paleo Diets
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Barbecued Grassfed Prime Rib with a Garlic Marinade from my upcoming book.
The Paleo diet has been adopted by many people, and the numbers are growing. The idea that we should eat like our ancestors makes complete sense, as our bodies have evolved to eat and process the foods they used over tens of thousands of years. While there are different variations of Paleo diets, one thing is true for all of them—grassfed meat is ideal, especially when barbecued.
What is Paleo?
I did not know about the Paleo diet when I wrote my first cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat. As I followed news of my book on the Internet, I came across a number of comments on Paleo websites that praised my book and talked about how it was great for people following a Paleo diet. These comments inspired me to learn about Paleo.
The Paleo concept is both simple and profound. The idea is that we should eat the same foods that our distant ancestors ate, before agriculture was developed. The argument is a powerful one—agriculture is only a few thousand years old, but humanity has existed for tens of thousands of years, or much longer.
The foods eaten by humanity over these tens of thousands of years included the meat and fat of ruminant animals, the meat and fat of other animals such as wild boar, the meat and fat of a huge variety of birds, wild fish, and seafood. Nuts, berries, wild roots, and plants were also eaten. Meat was eaten on the bone whenever possible, and bones were cracked open for their marrow, and formed the basis of early broths. Because humans have been eating these foods since the beginning, they are ideal for our bodies, since we have evolved to eat and digest them.
The food of agriculture, such as grains and dairy, as well as all of the modern processed foods, are new to our bodies and can cause problems with digestion and absorption, as well as allergies and other problems.
Therefore, a true Paleo diet would avoid all modern foods, and many traditional foods, including all grains and dairy.
I personally eat lots of dairy, but only in its traditional forms. Humans have been eating traditional dairy for about ten thousand years, and my body does fine with it. I avoid most grains, and find that I can easily do without them. I avoid all modern processed foods. But the food I enjoy and crave the most is Paleo—grassfed meat and fat, cooked in front of burning coals.
But it is not enough just to eat meat and fat. Modern industrial meat has a totally different nutritional content from the meat eaten by our ancestors. Grassfed meat and fat is as close as we can get to the meat that nourished our ancestors (with the exception of wild game).
The Price–Paleo Connection—Modern Examples of a Real Paleo Diet
Dr. Weston A. Price, spent ten years studying the diets of the traditional peoples who were free from the chronic diseases that plagued the modern world, such as tooth decay, heart disease, asthma, cancer, allergies, birth defects, and just about every chronic modern illness. He did not read reports or studies, but actually travelled to where these people lived and met them, taking detailed notes on what they ate and how they lived.
Three of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price were eating a Paleo diet, in that they had no agriculture and no dairy. They lived completely from hunting and gathering. Their traditional diets had not changed for many thousands of years. These peoples included Alaskan Eskimos (Inuit), Australian Aborigines, and Canadian Native Americans.
When these peoples ate their traditional Paleo diet, they were healthy. When they ate modern foods, they were riddled with all kinds of chronic disease, and died in large numbers from diseases such as tuberculosis.
These peoples all ate the meat, organs, and fat of grass-eating animals, as well as other animals. Those who lived by the sea also ate huge amounts of wild seafood and fish. While all of these peoples gathered and ate a variety of nuts, berries, and plants, their diets focused heavily on meat, organs, and fat, both from land and sea animals. All of the animals they ate were eating a species-appropriate diet such as grass and meadow plants for herbivores.
Grassfed and Paleo—a Perfect Match
Most of the foods eaten by early humans are not readily available to us. But we can find and eat foods that have a similar nutritional profile. The major food of these people was the meat and fat of animals, especially ruminant animals. We can get an almost identical set of nutrients by eating plenty of grassfed meat and fat, as well as the organs of grassfed animals.
Grassfed bison meat, from bison grazing their natural habitat, is just about identical with the bison that was eaten by early humans.
Grassfed beef is very similar, even though the breed and characteristics of the animals have changed from the wild varieties available before agriculture.
Grassfed lamb and goat also have a similar nutritional profile.
Pastured pork, from pigs who have been allowed to root in the forest like their wild ancestors, is another meat that is close to the meat eaten by early humans.
Grassfed Barbecue and Paleo—an Even Better Match
While the peoples studied by Dr. Price ate some of their meat raw or fermented, much of their meat was cooked, and it was almost always cooked in front of a fire.
I do not know if any nutrients are enhanced by the barbecue process, but the taste certainly is. The mouthwatering smell and taste of charcoaled meat appeals to most people on a primal level. The smell of meat roasting in front of a fire, the flavor added by the burning coals, is one of the oldest human pleasures, one that has been enjoyed for ages.
By barbecuing grassfed meat in a traditional manner, we can enjoy this primal taste, as did our ancestors.
This article was taken from my upcoming book on grassfed barbecue.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
Grassfed Bone Broth—The Traditional Mineral Supplement
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Beef bone broth made from nutrient-rich grass fed beef.
Traditional peoples did not have the ability to purchase mineral supplements. Instead, they had something far better—bone broth. A soup made from the bones, sinew, and meat of grassfed animals.
These people had no scientists to identify and classify the minerals, or to come up with “minimum daily requirements.†Instead, they had something far better. A tradition of simmering the bones, sinew and meat from animals for many hours, and drinking the mineral-rich broth every day, getting everything needed to fully assimilate and use the minerals.
Just about every traditional people used bone broth.
Bone broth is not hard to make, though it must simmer for many hours for the nutrients to be released into the broth. Tender Grassfed Meat contains a number of recipes for traditional bone broth.
Bone broth is still the best and most natural way to ingest minerals and other vital nutrients. We can still get the bones, meat, and sinew to release their nutrients into the broth by simmering for many hours. However, it is vital to make broth from nutrient-rich bones, meat, and sinew. Which is why I make all my broths from the bones, sinew, and meat of grassfed or pastured animals.
The Magic of Bone Broth
We need many minerals to have healthy bones, and to support the proper functioning of our bodies. The bones and sinew of meat animals contain just about all of these minerals. However, the minerals are locked into the bones. Our ancestors found that the best way to get the nutrients out of the bones was to make a broth that would simmer for many hours. Water is a solvent, very good at getting things to dissolve. Simmering water is even better. The sinew and meat that cling to the bones also contain many beneficial nutrients, which are also released into the broth by long simmering.
The nutrients in broth are easily absorbed by the body, and you get the full range of nutrients. Human beings have drunk bone broth for many thousands of years, and our bodies have evolved to easily absorb the nutrients in broth.
The use of bone broth, from the bones of grassfed or pastured animals, or from wild fish, is universal among traditional cultures. Just about every people knew of the nutritional power of bone broth. Broth was a universal remedy for illness used by just about everybody.
Good Soil, Good Bones
It is important to realize that bones cannot release nutrients that are not there in the first place. The animals used for the broth should have been raised on good soil, so the animals got the nutrients that they needed for healthy bones. The animals should also have been fed their natural feed, grass.
Unfortunately, the nutrient content of soil, plants, and animal foods has been steadily declining because of the unnatural practices of industrial agriculture, which deplete the soil of many important nutrients. Industrial agriculture also gives species-inappropriate feed to meat animals, which often has an adverse effect on the nutritional value of the animal.
Grassfed animals, raised on good soil, have healthy bones loaded with nutrients, and are the best choice for bone broth. Grassfed bones also make the broth taste much better.
My family has some homemade bone broth every day. The broth tastes so good, and feels so right as it is slowly sipped and absorbed. Grassfed bone broth is a nutritional treasure.
Related Post
Smelt Soup for Natural Iodine
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Monday Mania blog carnivals.
I Am Grateful for Grassfed Meat and Real Food
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Roast grassfed Spring lamb with organic asparagus and potatoes.
I am grateful for grassfed meat and real food. Thanks to the ranchers and farmers who raise real food. Thanks to those who spread the truth about food.
I was sitting quietly last night, thinking about my life. The life that was supposed to have ended eight years ago. The life that is free of pain and illness. The life that is drug-free, medication-free, doctor-free, and symptom-free. The life that is full of joy and love and purpose. The life that is full of wonderful, delicious, nourishing food, the food that made life itself possible.
And I thought about the people who spread the word, giving me the knowledge that saved my life and made the health and joy I experience every day possible.
I am deeply grateful to those who raise the food, and to those who spread the word.
From There to Here
As discussed in detail in the “About†section on this website, I was very ill for most of my life. After getting a medical death sentence in 1998, and being told I had no more than five years left, I realized that the medical profession could not help me. I searched for another way, and found the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, as demonstrated and presented by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
My path to health was nothing more or less than eating the right food, and avoiding the wrong food. The right food is the unmodified food eaten by our ancestors, designed by nature to make us strong and keep us healthy. The wrong food is modern factory food and artificial ingredients, designed by greedy men to make money.
The right food includes the meat and fat of grassfed animals, pastured animals, wild fish, and vegetables grown in good soil, without chemicals. The right food also includes traditional foods like butter, full fat cheese, pastured eggs, unmodified and unprocessed milk, fermented foods like sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented vegetables, organ meats from grassfed or pastured or wild animals, and many other traditional foods. The right food is demonized by the government, the media, the medical profession, the drug industry, industry, the educational system, and big agriculture.
Why do they demonize the food we need to thrive and be healthy? Because people who eat the right food and avoid the wrong food have little or no need for doctors, drugs, or industrial agriculture.
When I avoided the wrong food and ate the right food: my health returned, as did my eyesight, sense of smell, energy, joy of life, enthusiasm, and many other qualities associated with youth. Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful feeling of total well-being, health, and contentment—at age 59.
None of this would have been possible without two very wonderful groups of people. Those who spread the word and those who raise the food.
Thanks to Those Who Spread the Word
My first thanks goes, with all my heart, to Dr. Weston A. Price. Dr. Price spent 10 years traveling around the world to learn the truth about nutrition. He succeeded, and recorded his findings in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, a book that explains and documents this truth. I am a living example of the truth of his teachings, as are many others. The last words of Dr. Price were not about himself, but his calling – “You teach, you teach, you teach!â€
My second thanks goes to Sally Fallon Morell, the founder and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Nobody has heeded the call of Dr. Price better than her. She made the teachings of Dr. Price far more understandable and accessible, posting a free library of nutritional truth at the Foundation’s website, writing a magnificent cookbook and nutrition resource entitled Nourishing Traditions, and selflessly spreading the teachings of Dr. Price throughout the world through the Foundation and her own travels. The website of the Weston A. Price Foundation gave me the knowledge I needed.
My third thanks goes to the many others who spread the teachings of Dr. Price, and/or other nutritional wisdom, often through blogging, writing books and articles, and giving seminars and lectures. The list of these people is just too long to include by name.
My fourth thanks goes to everybody who had the courage and wisdom to actually try real food, and to share their experience with their families, neighbors, and friends.
Thanks to the Ranchers and Farmers
Knowing what to eat is not enough. You have to be able to find the food. Raising real food is much more difficult and requires far more knowledge than raising factory food. My deep gratitude to all who raise grassfed meat and other real food, without chemicals, in accordance with the laws of nature.
I will thank those wonderful farmers and ranchers who raise the food eaten by my family, including John Wood and all the folks at U.S. Wellness, Glenn and Caryl Elzinga of Alderspring Ranch, Ed Wimble and his partners at Homestead Natural Foods, Reed Anderson of Anderson Ranches, Lee and Mary Graese of Northstar Bison, Leland Mora of Humboldt Grassfed Beef, Chris Kerston of Chaffin Family Orchards, the farmers at the Danville and Walnut Creek Farmers’ Markets, and everybody else who has had a part in raising the wonderful food we are so lucky to eat.
I owe my good health to two magnificent groups of people—those who spread the truth, and those who raise real food.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
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