Cholesterol Myth and Reality – Does High Cholesterol Cause High Disease

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Introduction

For the entirety of my lifetime, cholesterol has been demonized, claimed as the worst thing in the world and something to avoid at all costs. 

I mentally put it on par with the Boogeyman and the reminder to “never take candy from strangers.” I grew up in a time where Snackwells, high sugar, low fat products began taking the world by storm. I remember the 1990s very vividly and remember the advertisements on TV after school that told me to consume lots of fruit juice and sugary sodas.

When I began to learn that cholesterol was actually something essential to life and beneficial to health, I was very confused. 

It was as if everything I was told my entire life was wrong, and the opposite, which was always denied, was true. Sort of like when I found out Santa Claus looked suspiciously like my mustached father, eating cookies and placing presents under the tree at 11:40PM on Christmas Eve (I couldn’t sleep).

This article will cover the myth of cholesterol, the reality of what it actually does, why it’s important, and what foods to eat and to avoid. 

Though many in the Paleo community are already aware of the importance of cholesterol, there is still a widespread belief that it is to be avoided at all costs. So please, feel free to share this article with uninformed relatives, friends, and those otherwise confused.

Myth

So what used to be said about cholesterol? Well, let’s take a journey back into the annals of time, and find out!

Here is the Time Magazine cover from March 26th, 1984. Not looking so favorable towards cholesterol, right? The words were strong and widespread – don’t eat much cholesterol at all and you will avoid heart disease and all other illness! Quite honestly, this was far from true. But Ancel Keys certainly had his day in the sun (more on that soon).

I won’t spend too much time recounting “the horrors of cholesterol.” Most of us reading, lived through it. However, back in the mid-1900s, there was much more of an “accepted society” and it was very rare that many ventured outside of societal norms. My point here, is that this recommendation did maximum damage, because almost everyone listened to it!

Reality

Here is the Time Magazine cover from June 23rd, 2014. Perhaps they changed their tune?

If we look into the science behind cholesterol, we will see that many, if not all, of the conclusions that it was a negative thing came from experiments that were flawed for a variety of reasons. 

In fact, many diets of healthy cultures were all high in fats. This meant: meat with the fat, blubber, egg yolks, coconut oil, lard and butter. These are the exact list of foods that I was told to never eat as a child. Instead, I became hooked on chips and soda.

However, this is where the industries of Big Pharma and Big Food come in to play. Vegetable oils, added sugars, and poor health are all ways to make money.

Eating farm-raised eggs? Not so much. This isn’t to say it’s all one big conspiracy. It is, instead, a way to say that their interests don’t dovetail with ours, the consumers. Their job is to sell food and drugs. Period. Until most wake up to this cold hard fact, we will remain in limbo with our own health.

So what really happened? Rudolph Virchow, over 100 years ago, developed the lipid hypothesis. The idea was that the cholesterol in your blood, lead to the development of plaque in your arteries.

Again, this was a hypothesis. Meaning, it needed to be tested. Even more alarmingly, he based this hypothesis on studying corpses. Meaning, this was only a hypothesis that seemed to be true in dead people. The obvious issue here: what about ALL other variables, that may play a role in potential morbidity?!

This dovetails with the second part of our problem. Rabbits and cholesterol. What’s that you say? We’re not rabbits, and all information that was concluded from experiments on them should be taken with a grain of salt? I agree. But that’s not exactly what happened. In fact, far from it.

Nikolaj Nikolajewitsch Anitschkow fed rabbits cholesterol (they do not naturally consume it, since they are herbivores) and “proved” that cholesterol led to atherosclerotic issues.

To be clear, the first part of the issue was derived from studying corpses. The second part of the issue was derived from studying rabbits, who are not meant to consume cholesterol.

If this seems like poor science to you, I agree. If it seems very dubious to base an entire nation’s dietary recommendations on these kinds of experiments, I agree as well!

Another flaw, though less obvious at the time, was the notion that all cholesterol in the blood comes from diet. This is far from true and is one of the misnomers that led to this massive confusion. Your liver makes sure that you always have cholesterol in your body since it is required to make cell membranes. In fact, as we will see, even proponents of this theory were cited as saying that dietary cholesterol was unlikely to lead to issues. Are you shaking your head yet at this inane situation?

Things only got worse and really reached maximum acceptance with the aforementioned Ancel Keys. Dr. Keys’ famous work was the Seven Countries Study. This is already dubious as Keys had data from 22 countries. However, he kept this point nice and quiet and ignored all rational thought.

Instead, he chose to focus on the 7 countries that supported his idea: cholesterol is bad and we should all stop consuming it. And, believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened.

To be more specific, Keys claimed that dietary fat itself caused heart disease (cholesterol goes along for the ride). This completely ignored the countries that ate TONS of fat and had very low rates of heart disease. Interestingly, it also ignored the countries that ate almost NO fat and had high rates of heart disease.

Based on Dr. Keys’ conclusions, Americans then assumed that we should go as low fat as possible. We are now similar to those “low fat diet, high heart disease rates” countries that Keys ignored in his initial study. Irony?

Sadly, the politics of the time gave Keys a lot of clout. Although some very clearly disputed his conclusion, power won the day. We all were told to cut out dairy, eggs, animal fats, red meat, and butter. And so we did. This has led us to the worst state of our nation’s health, in history. A state that is bankrupting us, and making us sick.

Every country, even ones who were previously healthy, that has adopted our diet, has come down with the same diseases. The addictive and rewarding nature of carbohydrates (especially sugar) is strong. And that’s where we are at right now.

What To Eat?

As we’ve seen, foods high in cholesterol are not the problem. Foods high in sugar, foods high in vegetable oils, and foods which provide no nutrients with lots of calories are the problem.

So eating eggs, meat (grass-fed, please), butter, coconut oil, etc. are all good choices. This doesn’t mean to make them the only foods in your diet. Just as important are vegetables and good sources of carbohydrates.

What to Avoid?

Quite frankly – anything the food industry is trying to sell you! Anything with added sugars, dyes, trans fats, or anything not naturally found in nature, shouldn’t really be going into your mouth – at least on a regular basis. This logic may seem obvious, but I bet most people would struggle to go one entire month without eating the garbage that’s out there.

Watch this video – Debunking Cholesterol Myths

Conclusion

Though I realize many in the Paleo community already know why cholesterol is not the demon we all perhaps once thought it was, it is important to remember that the community grows every day. This is great, but underscores the need for information and truths to be dispersed.

The danger of low cholesterol and over-carb-consumption is very real; it can have a huge positive impact on someone’s health to start eating eggs and limit their processed carbohydrate consumption. This article is as much for them as it is for me.

Until we get more mainstream minds on board, we remain a cult movement. An ever-enlarging cult! Clear and concise language, clean and clear science, and sharing of information is the best way to make not only ourselves but everyone in the world healthier!

Written by Casey Thaler

Author Bio:

Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS is an NASM® certified personal trainer and NASM® certified fitness nutrition specialist. He writes for Paleo Magazine®, The Paleo Diet® and Greatist®. He is also an advisor for Kettle and Fire and runs his own nutrition and fitness consulting company, Eat Clean, Train Clean®.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

Brown Eggs Vs White Eggs – Which Are Healthier for You

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

The Real Difference Between Brown Eggs Vs White Eggs

Brown eggs vs. white eggs: is there really a difference? Are brown eggs healthier, or is that just a myth? The answer is surprisingly simple.

The American Heart Association put everyone’s egg intake on a leash in 1961 when they had announced that high cholesterol intake was linked to heart disease. They recommended that daily consumption shouldn’t exceed 300 milligrams per day (egg yolks are estimated to have about 200 milligrams of cholesterol).

Since then, nationwide egg consumption has been on the decline—you may have even been one to order egg whites for an extra fee in attempt to limit the “unhealthy” yolk.

In 1984, Time put everyone’s eggs in one unhealthy basket with an article that got the ball rolling on the public’s negative ideologies surrounding dietary cholesterol and saturated fats.

This myth that egg consumption should be limited has since been debunked, and so have the myths on saturated fat intake and dietary cholesterol intake.

As it turns out, the whole egg white craze is actually depriving you of the most nutritious part of the egg, the yolk!

And yes, egg yolks are full of cholesterol, which is NOT bad for you. We now know that there isn’t enough evidence showing cholesterol consumption increases your risk for heart disease. So unless the egg white-only order is a personal preference, the healthier choice is to just order the whole egg.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance located in cells. Your body actually needs cholesterol to control for digestion, and to produce things like hormones and vitamin D.

Your body makes cholesterol itself in your liver, but production is internally regulated. When you eat more cholesterol, the body will make less, and when your intake is low, your body will produce what it needs.

Dietary cholesterol doesn’t just dissolve in the body; it must be carried. There are 2 types of cholesterol, and they’re identified by the lipoproteins that carry them around your blood—low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

LDL cholesterol is typically not your best friend and has long been portrayed as the “bad” cholesterol because it contributes to plaque formation in your arteries.

HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, plays a more heroic role and is known as the “good” cholesterol because it has the ability to sweep LDL cholesterol away from your arteries and back to your liver to be removed from your body.

What is Coronary Artery Disease?

Sometimes called coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease is characterized by a buildup of plaque in a person’s coronary (heart) arteries—blood vessels carrying oxygen-rich blood throughout your body.

Arterial plaque, not to be confused with dental plaque, is composed of calcium, fat, cellular waste, fibrin (a protein involved with blood clotting), and you guessed it—cholesterol.

When plaque builds up, your arteries become susceptible to narrowing and hardening, better known as atherosclerosis. If blood is being blocked from going to your brain, this results in a stroke. If blood is being blocked from going to your heart, this results in a heart attack.

If blood is being blocked from going to your limbs, organs, or head, this results in peripheral artery disease, which may include symptoms like pain and numbness.

It may feel a little counterintuitive for you to accept a whole egg as healthy if you’ve been told the opposite all your life, but get used to accepting it and pass along the egg-cellent knowledge.

Anyone who is still pushing the idea that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat are the main culprits of heart disease is operating on research conducted about 40-50 years ago.

Why are Eggs Good for You?

Eggs can be thought of like a Mary Poppins bag—so much is packed into such a seemingly small package. You will find the following nutrients packed in an egg:

Choline: Choline is the precursor to acetylcholine, an extremely important brain chemical (neurotransmitter) for nerve and muscle function.

Selenium: Nutritionally speaking, selenium is essential to humans. It plays vital roles in DNA synthesis, thyroid hormone metabolism, reproduction, and protection against oxidative damage and infection.

Biotin (Vitamin B7): Biotin is most commonly known to benefit your hair and nails, but it also supports your digestive tract, skin, nerves, and metabolism.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A has many important functions for health, including cell growth, vision support, and immune system support.

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin): Vitamin B12 is the only vitamin containing a metal element (cobalt). Among other functions, vitamin B12 is necessary to help facilitate the successful transport of oxygen through your blood, which supports your cardiovascular, brain, and nervous system health. It also aids in DNA production and regulates energy metabolism.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): This nutrient is vital for your energy metabolism. Pantothenic acid is a component of a molecule that goes by the name of Coenzyme A (CoA), an essential chemical for sustaining life.

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are broken down and burned into fuel thanks to CoA’s assistance. Besides breaking down fats, CoA is also needed for fat storage and building cholesterol.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): When you get a ton of vitamin B2 in your diet, you will notice your urine turn into a bright yellow color. Besides giving a darker shade of pee, vitamin B2 gives vital support to iron metabolism, antioxidant protection, and energy production.

Vitamin D: If there were two nutrients you may have been familiar with before reading this article, vitamin D was probably the runner up. Vitamin D keeps your bones healthy, your blood sugar under control, and your immune system in great shape.

Molybdenum: Dietary intake of molybdenum helps keep your body’s sulfur levels in check. Sulfur is an essential element involved in protecting antioxidants and helping your body eliminate toxic waste. On top of that, it plays a role in the structure of connective tissue. A balanced level of sulfur is especially crucial for your brain and liver.

Iodine: If you’ve ever done the simple science test for starch in a potato, then perhaps you are familiar with iodine. In a dietary sense, iodine supports your thyroid gland and is a fundamental component of hormone production.

Protein: If there’s only one thing on this list that you knew about before reading this article, it has to be protein. Protein is basically found everywhere in your body—your blood, bones, digestive system, hair, heart, muscles, skin, tissue, and much more.

There are over 10,000 different proteins, and they’re needed for maintaining the integrity of your body’s structure.

Phosphorus: Phosphorus is a key component in making sure your bones stay healthy and strong, balancing vitamins in your body, managing, making, and storing energy, producing your genetic building blocks (DNA and RNA), muscle contraction, and many other crucial bodily functions.

What Types of Eggs Can We Eat?

Eggs that come from many different types of animals are edible, but we usually stick to eating eggs laid by hens (chickens). Some other animals that lay tasty shelled cuisine are ducks, quail, geese, turkeys, emus, and several other birds and fish.

Different Labels Seen on Eggs

Going to the grocery store can be an overwhelming experience if you just learned some new health tips. Always remember to read the labels. In the case of eggs, here are common labels you will see:

Cage-free (or Free-run)

This literally means the eggs came from hens that do not live in a cage. They are able to roam freely, able to strut their stuff and spread their wings, and able to lay their eggs in nests.

These are three vital natural behaviors that hens raised in cages are withheld from. However, often times cage-free hens are kept in huge flocks of thousands of hens, and they are not free to roam outside (i.e. inside warehouses, or barns, etc).

Battery-cage

This label has more to do with the humanity of your hen. Battery cages are wire cages the size of a microwave (too small to allow them their natural wingspan), and they are overcrowded, housing about 10 hens per cage. Hens can live there for their entire lives, which is about 2 years. Because of the tight quarters, this creates a higher risk for disease outbreak (i.e. salmonella).

Luckily, in California, this became illegal in 2015. Battery cages are also illegal in Michigan as of 2009, and in 2010, Ohio passed a ban on any permits to build new battery cages. Though only a few U.S. states have gotten on board with the ban on this practice, many European countries have banned battery cages altogether.

Organic

Not all organic labels are created equal. If you have ever noticed, there are actually several labels accepted by the USDA to describe how organic a product actually is.

The different levels of organic are: 100 percent organic, “Organic” (made of at least 95 percent organic ingredients), and “Made with organic____” (containing at least 70 percent organic ingredients).

Eggs labeled “organic” are trusted to have come from hens fed a diet that was for the most part free from pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and/or commercial fertilizers.

This means that organic eggs are exposed to fewer chemicals, making them ideal for consumption. Unfortunately, “organic” doesn’t tell us anything about the hen’s living conditions or treatment.

Free-range / Free-roaming

You will see this label on eggs originating from hens that were allowed outdoors at least for part of their days. Typically, this means the hen was granted access to sunlight. The term “Free-range” is used differently from country to country.

Pasture-raised

A pasture is a patch of land covered with grass and plants, the ideal habitat for grazing livestock. Pasture-raised chickens must be free to roam outside year-round, but also have a house for protection from weather and/or predators. They are also likely the only type of hens that are getting a natural diet which may contain plants, insects, and worms.

Pasteurized

Pasteurization is a process that has long been used in food processing to kill off bad bacteria. While it is true that pasteurization does reduce the risk of foodborne illness, it is also true that the process does not discriminate, and it also kills off good bacteria.

Omega-3-enriched

The only difference in eggs labeled as “Omega-3-enriched” is that those hens were fed omega-3 rich sources, i.e. flax seeds. Though these eggs are higher in omega-3 fatty acid content, the amount doesn’t have that dramatic of an effect on your health, and the may even be unhealthy if the hen was fed a poor-quality omega-3 diet.

Vegetarian-fed

When you see this label, you can be certain that the eggs came from hens that were not fed any animal protein. While this may sound healthy, a hen’s natural diet is not actually vegetarian and may include things like insects and worms. A vegetarian-fed label also tells you nothing about the treatment or living conditions of the hen.

Grade

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will also issue a grade or an inspection marking if the eggs were officially checked for quality (freshness) and sanitation. Grade AA eggs are usually the highest in quality and the freshest.

Are Brown Eggs Healthier for You Than White Eggs?

If you’ve ever compared the price of brown eggs to the price of white eggs, you’re likely to have noticed that brown eggs tend to be more expensive than white eggs.

Believe it or not, price isn’t actually an indicator of how healthy the eggs are. The main difference is in the type of chicken that lays the egg.

In general chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs, and chickens with brown (red) earlobes lay brown eggs. Earlobe color is not necessarily the same color as the rest of a chicken’s feathers and not all chickens follow this rule.

There are even green and blue chicken eggs out there! A pigment called oocyanin results in blue eggs, while porphyrins result in brown eggs.  Color isn’t linked to nutrition. Diet of the hen and genetics are what influences an egg’s nutritional value the most.

What Do Chickens Eat?

Different chickens have different nutritional requirements based on whether they are bred to make eggs, or bred for their meat. A main difference is that egg-laying hens need less protein and more calcium than hens that are to be eaten.

In nature, chickens eat greens, worms, and insects. Mass egg production demands make it challenging to feed chickens their natural diet, since it’s expensive.

Though a vegetarian-fed label on an egg carton may draw your attention, definitely think twice about it. To stay healthy on a vegetarian diet, chickens need to be supplemented with methionine, a crucial building block of life that chickens would normally get from eating animal protein (i.e. bugs and worms). It’s cheaper to feed hens on a veggie diet (usually consisting of soy and corn) with supplementation than to feed them on their natural diet.

Soy actually depletes a chicken of important nutrients like zinc and calcium. When a chicken is fed soy, it is likely to end up in its eggs, as well, so if you’re allergic to soy, always pay extra attention to the labels of the eggs that you eat.

So Why Do Brown Eggs Cost More?

There are many different types of chickens bred for egg-laying. The most common are the Rhode Island Red, the New Hampshire, and the White Leghorn.

Brown eggs typically come from larger sized hens, and because it is more expensive to feed the bigger hens they tend to be more expensive. This usually makes white-eggs the more cost-efficient choice.

Depending on who you ask about taste, or what’s better for baking, you’ll get a variety of answers. The truth is that white and brown eggs are pretty split down the middle with regard to nutrition, taste, and baking benefits.

These factors will also be determined by the diet of the hen that laid the egg. So don’t hesitate towards one or the other. Both white and brown eggs are good for you.

Watch these 3 videos below –

What’s the Difference Between Brown Eggs and White Eggs?

Egg Yolks: Orange or Yellow – Which is Better?

How to Cook Perfect Eggs Every Time

Written by Liz Lang

Author Bio:

Liz Lang is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Southern California Institute for Research and Education in the field of Gastroenterology. Liz graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in Public Health Sciences. She has an insatiable thirst to learn how the human body works in order to keep people healthy. When Liz isn’t in the clinic, she enjoys exploring nature, yoga, and trying new things (especially food!).

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

What You Need to Know When Buying Eggs and Meat

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Cage-Free vs. Free-Range vs. Pasture-Raised – Here’s What They Actually Mean

When you buy eggs and meat, you probably look for terms like cage-free, free-range, or pasture-raised. Here are the critical differences between these terms, and why it matters.

The last time you visited the grocery store, you probably walked out with a skip in your step. After all, you’d just purchased cage-free eggs and free-range meat for the week, and nothing feels better than supporting farms that raise happy, free, healthy animals. You supported farmers that care for their animals, and you feel confident that you’re eating quality meat.

But, what if you found out that those terms on the brands you purchased might actually mean next to nothing?

Labeling: Diving into the Murky Waters

When you buy products with labels like “cage-free, free-range,” or “pasture-raised,” it’s easy to be fooled into thinking that these terms mean the same thing – that the animal was not in a cage.

Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. In fact, choosing one popular term over another could mean the animal you’re eating had only a couple of feet of “freedom” its entire life!

Read on to discover the important differences between these terms so you can better support brands offering truly healthy, high-quality animal products.

The Difference Between Labels

No Labeling

If you don’t see any mention at all of the animal’s lifestyle on the package, you can be sure the animal was caged throughout its life. This goes for eggs as well: terms like “fresh” and “real,” may be written on the carton, but these terms are not regulated and have no official meaning.

“Caged” animals like chicken receive only 67 square inches of cage space, which is less space than a single sheet of letter-sized paper! In general, caged animals spend their entire lives with no room to turn around or spread their wings, let alone engage in vital natural behaviors like nesting or dust bathing.

To top this off, caged animals are fed unnatural diets of corn, soy, and wheat, and most often of the genetically modified or GMO variety. This leads to unhealthy animals rife with infections and inflammation.

In fact, researchers have found that GMO-fed caged pigs have over twice the occurrence of stomach inflammation than pigs fed non-GMO feed because these modified proteins erode the lining of the stomach.

Cage-Free

It may seem like “cage-free” products are the answer to these problems but, unfortunately, this is a misleading term. While the label sounds synonymous with free-roaming, “cage-free” really means that chickens have only a single square foot of space to move around.

The term does not mean they were given access to the outdoors. Not entirely the sunshine and pasture image the term “cage-free” conjures up!

Free-Range

“Free-range” hens don’t fare much better than their “cage-free” cousins. In essence, “free-range” simply means that at some point in the animal’s life, it had some access to the outdoors.

However, the term is also not regulated, and doesn’t have any requirements regarding the size of the outdoor area, the condition, or even how long or often the animal is outside.

When it comes to beef, however, there are slightly more rules involved if farms want to place the “free-range” label on their packages: that the animals are given free access to the outdoors for a minimum of 120 days per year.

However, this also doesn’t require disclosure of the condition of the outdoor space, or even how big it is.

Free-range animals also aren’t exempt from the corn, soy, and wheat diet – they are simply able to move a couple feet more as they eat it.

Pasture-Raised

“Pasture-raised” is the best term to look for if you want to ensure the meat and/or eggs you’re consuming came from animals with access to the outdoors, as well as some grazing opportunities (although this term doesn’t mean they exclusively grazed outdoors – they could still be receiving supplemental feed).

While “pasture-raised” dairy and egg-laying hens were not raised entirely indoors, there is no official definition or regulation around the term “pasture,” or a regulation on the amount of time spent in this outdoor space.

Poultry and meat labels fare only marginally better, requiring written descriptions of how and where the animals are raised. While “pasture-raised” is the best term to look for, you’ll want to look for additional labels to make sure this is a meaningful claim.

What About Organic Products?

Organic is great to look for if you want to ensure your animals weren’t fed GMO corn and soy. However, “organic” doesn’t mean that the animal was free-roaming, it simply means they were fed organic feed and not injected with anything artificial.

Pasture-Raised, Grass-fed, Certified Humane, Organic Meats Are Best

If you want to ensure the dairy or beef you’re consuming was from a cow that roamed on a pasture and ate a natural diet, look for the term “grass-fed” on the label.

When buying eggs, look for the Certified Humane seal or Animal Welfare Approved label as they indicate the chickens live in decent conditions with monitoring for factors such as ventilation, air quality, and environment.

To add another layer of protection, it would help to buy organic as well, as this means the animal was not administered antibiotics or hormones. Not only are pasture-raised and grass-fed animals happier with more space to roam, but they are also healthier, which translates into important health benefits for us.

More Anti-Inflammatory Benefits

Studies have found that pasture-raised eggs contain twice the amount of omega-3 fatty acids than regular eggs. As for meat, research has shown pastured chickens have greater nutritional quality.

This is important because non-pastured animals fed a diet of corn and soy have a high omega-6 fatty acid ratio which is pro-inflammatory for them (and for us when consumed). Omega-3, on the other hand, is anti-inflammatory and reduces the risk of heart attacks.

More Essential Vitamins

Specifically, pasture-raised eggs contain twice as much vitamin E and 38 percent more vitamin A than their caged counterparts.

In addition, pasture-raised pork has been found to contain up to 200 percent more vitamin E, while pasture-raised beef contains up to 700 percent more beta-carotene.

Here’s a scary fact: Nearly half of all feedlot, caged animal meat in the U.S. have tested positive for the antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria. If you don’t want to consume Staph, buy pasture-raised.

Where to Find Pasture-Raised, Grass-fed Eggs and Meat

Grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods all carry pasture-raised, grass-fed products. If you don’t live near any stores with organic products, your best bet is to search online for local farms that fully disclose their animal welfare practices. Some may even let you visit their farms to see their free animals up close.

Another option is to order online and have quality meat shipped to you. We recommend brands like US Wellness or Butcher Box for quality meats that are verified grass-fed.

Being informed on what label terms actually mean, is crucial to supporting your health and humane farming practices. Don’t be fooled by meaningless marketing terms!

Watch these 2 videos-

Everything You Need To Know About Eggs – Cage Free, Free Range, Pasture Raised, and More

Everything You Need To Know About Buying Chicken At The Grocery Store

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook