![]() One surprise was how meat from animal products can be quite rich in phytonutrients, which are the secondary plant compounds with health benefits, such as terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, phenols, carotenoids, and tocopherols. ![]() Grass finished meat is also quite dense in many other nutrients, particularly if the animals were grazed on a pasture that is rich in a diversity of forbs in addition to grasses and legumes. Grass finished ruminant meat, on the other hand, is close to an ideal balance of fatty acid composition. The study did not differentiate between liver from grass finished animals versus grain fed, but in other studies the nutrient density of grass finished ruminants was much higher than that of grain finished, including the content of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are so sorely lacking in the typical American diet. The #1 most nutrient dense food? Hands down, it was liver. What should we be eating? Sara showed studies where different foods were examined and ranked based on nutrient density. The result is that the typical American has an O6:O3 ratio of 15:1 instead of the ideal 1:1. Most of the meat we consume is also highly skewed towards a high ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids, because what we feed our meat producing animals (primarily corn and soybeans) is very high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Soybean oil has also been strongly correlated to obesity in scientific studies. Soybean oil is also very high in phytoestrogens, which can cause hormonal issues, particularly in young boys. Many vegetable oils are ridiculously high in Omega 6 fatty acids and low in Omega 3 fatty acids, with soybean oil being one of the worst offenders. The typical American diet has an O6:03 ratio of 15:1 which is a long way from the ideal 1:1. But most of the foods we consume are very high in Omega 6 fatty acids and low in Omega 3 fatty acids, and this preponderance of Omega 6 in our diets causes inflammation. We need both O6 and O3 in a healthy diet, but we need them in a balanced ratio close to 1:1. One major consideration of the fats and oils we eat that affects our health is the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids. Most vegetable oils, with the exception of coconut oil and avocado oil, undergo drastic changes upon heating which can create carcinogenic compounds. While vegetable oils and margarine were at one time promoted as a healthier alternative to animal fats like lard and butter, we have discovered that they are in fact much worse for us. Sugar and simple starches can cause an overgrowth of Candida yeast in our gut, which can lead to all sorts of health issues, and the yeast actually gives off chemicals that cause us to crave more sugar or starch to keep them fed. Our diet is heavy in sugar, starch and vegetable oils. What is the wrong kind of food? Take a look at the typical American diet. What is becoming increasingly apparent is that most of our major human diseases we fight now (cancer, diabetes, heart disease) are all a direct result of our dietary choices and of how our food is grown, and that was a topic Sara tackled in her talk I was privileged to hear at the 2021 Fuller Field School (Some of Sara’s talk was no surprise at all, such as the basic premise: we eat too much of the wrong kind of food, and too little of the right kinds of food. Recently Sara has been exploring how farming practices affect not only soil health but also how soil health affects the quality of the food we consume, and how those dietary choices affect the trillions of microbes in our gut, and how those microbes affect our health. She now works as a nutrition consultant and is part of the Understanding Ag technical advisor team. Sara has a unique background, in that she earned a degree in biology and worked as a field biologist in wetland preservation before she went back to school and earned a master’s degree in human nutrition. That is my summary of a talk I heard recently given by eco-nutritionist Sara Keough. And when you eat, you aren’t eating for one, you are eating for a trillion, and those trillion eat for you.” “ You are not only what you eat, you are also what you eat has eaten. A Summary of a Sara Keough Talk, Written By: Dale Strickler
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