Saturday 7

Published: Sat, 11/02/24

Updated: Mon, 11/04/24

Good morning!

Here's your Saturday 7 roundup!

🥩 Which is healthier:

Is grass-fed beef healthier?

A new study looked at the differences between grass- and grain-finished beef using metabolomics and found:

Grass-fed beef had 4X more omega-3 fatty acids.
Grass-fed beef had 3X more alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E), almost 10X more niacin (vitamin B3), and more choline. Whereas, grain-finished had higher amounts of some other B-vitamins.
The grass-fed beef also had lower markers of oxidative stress, improved mitochondrial function, an more phytochemicals.

Conclusion:

The most nutritious food in the world is grass-finished beef.

The second is grain-finished beef.

Whether grass- or grain-finished, get the beef you can afford, or just prefer, because either way it's still the healthiest staple food in the diet.

🐔 What does it eat:

The food that your food eats is an important consideration.

But it's more important for monogastric animals like chicken and pigs than it is for ruminants like cows.

Beef fat, whether grass- or grain-finished is excellent.

Chicken or pork fat fed soy and corn isn't. It tends to have higher amounts of omega-6 fatty acids.

An evolutionarily appropriate ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 would have been around 1:1.

Today it's 20X that. Up to 20:1.

This unnatural amount of omega-6 causes problems...like obesity.

A diet high in omega-6 fatty acids sensitizes fat cells to insulin, causing them to store more fat than they otherwise would/could.

Further, seed oils increase the production of endocannabinoids, specifically 2-AG and anandamide, giving you the "munchies."

These are compounds that mess with satiety receptors in your brain and make you want to eat.

Combined, these two mechanisms create a vicious cycle of hunger and excess fat storage capacity.

🧂 What controversy erupted:

Dr. Tro outed LMNT, the popular electrolyte drink, for putting undisclosed maltodextrin in the product.

I was disappointed to hear this news. Not so much because of the (insignificant) 0.4 grams of maltodextrin, but because of the violation of trust. The brand was build on no BS. No dodgy ingredients. Yet, they hid this ingredient.

I'm one of their oldest affiliate partners. For the last 7 years I've recommended the product as the go-to electrolyte.

Not only did they violate this trust, they are also on the verge of kicking me off their affiliate program because I always say "you don't need it" :)

For now, I'll still be putting their chocolate packet in my coffee because: