Organic food and grass fed beef - are they worth it?

Q: Hey Tom, in your opinion do you think it’s worth paying the extra money for grass fed beef and free range or organic chicken? I’ve read some good things about it, but it’s so expensive. Does it really make any difference on your fat loss program?
Fred R.

A: I know what you mean about the cost of grass fed beef. The same thing is true of organic food.

I mentioned “organic food” to a friend of mine last week, and he asked, “Do you mean like what you get at Whole Foods?”

I said, “Yes, exactly… that’s a natural food and organic supermarket.”

He said, “yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!”

I was cracking up, but the truth is, organic food really is expensive and so is grass fed beef and free range chicken, (and wild alaskan salmon), so it’s a valid question to ask.

Look at it this way - if you put the cheapest fuel in your luxury car, how well is it going to run and how many miles are you going to get out of it?

While I’m on car analagies, health author and educator Paul Chek once noted how ridiculous it is to watch how many $75,000 + luxury cars pull up to the Mcdonald’s or Burger King drive through window to buy $1.99 hamburgers.

I would say that’s a serious case of having priorities screwed up, wouldn’t you? The driver has no problem shelling out the $1,100 monthly car payment, but it’s too much to ask him to put premium fuel into his own body

How can you put ANY price tag on your body and your health? You can buy another car, but you’ve only got one body.

As for the grass fed beef and organic free range chicken…

For best results in body composition improvement, which I define as burning fat and or building muscle, (and, I’ll even go as far as to say for optimal health as well), I am a believer in including animal proteins, including lean meats.

I have no wish to take up the vegetarian debate in this column; I respect vegetarians and acknowledge that a healthy and lean body can be developed with a vegetarian diet if it is done properly, although it may be more challenging to gain muscle for various reasons, for strict vegans.

However, in recommending animal protein as part of a healthy fat loss and muscle building nutrition program, I do agree that we all need to give some serious thought to what is in our meat (not to mention, the rest of our food).

I also think we should consider what is *missing* from our commercially grown food, that is supposed to be in there, but may not be.

A lot of people are not paying attention to this… even people who should know better.

For example, I am not your typical “health and wellness” or “weightloss” expert. I am also competitive bodybuilder. We bodybuilders are well know for eating very clean diets with lots of lean protein and natural carbs, as well as for looking like “the picture of health” with our ripped abs and impressive muscularity.

We eat our oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast, and proudly walk around with our chicken breast, rice and broccoli or our flank steak, yams and asparagus, and boast about how perfect and clean our meals are and how our diets could not be improved.

But how many bodybuilders or fitness enthusiasts are there - even serious, dedicated and educated ones - who don’t even give a single thought to the poisonous chemicals that might be lurking in our supposedly “clean” food?

The Food and Drug Administration lists more than 3,000 chemicals that can be added to our food supply.

1 billion pounds of pesticides and agro-farming chemicals are used on our crops every year.

Depending on what source you quote, the average American consumes as much as 150 pounds of chemicals and food additives per year

Does ANYBODY out there think that this is good for you?

Didn’t think so.

If you had a way to avoid all these chemicals and toxins, would you at least explore it, even if it cost a little more?

Although this topic is controversial and hotly debated, organic food seems to fit this bill and is gaining in popularity.

Food grown on certified organic farms does does not contain:

Pesticides
Herbicides
Fungicides
Hormones
Antibiotics
Chemical fertilizers

It is also not:

irradiated
genetically modified

Beyond the “certified organic” label, grass fed beef and free range chicken (and eggs), have other advantages.

Not only can there be tons of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals in our meat, commercially raised beef is also fed grain or corn and yet that is not what the animals were meant to eat.

The result - aside from sick, drugged animals - is a higher overall fat, higher saturated fat and a screwed up ratio of omega three to omega six fats, which is a very big problem today - even when you think you’re eating “clean.”

Last but not least, proponents of organic food suggest that the vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content of commercially grown foods can be anywhere from a little bit low to virtually absent.

So… IF organic and or grass fed beef and free range chicken can help us avoid some of these problems and dangers, then I’m all for it and the extra investment.

I started eating grass fed beef almost exclusively (except for my occasional restaurant steak), quite a few years ago, and I even mentioned it in my book, Burn The Fat (www.burnthefat.com)

I can’t say I eat entirely organic - if I’m eating an apple or some blueberries or whatever, and it doesn’t happen to be organic, I don’t freak out over it. When you really study deeply into the subject of food processing, industrial pollution and commercial farming, it can *almost* scare you half to death, but I don’t recommend becoming an “alarmist.” The people who live in fear of disease are often the ones mostly likely to get it.

However, the more I study this subject - from a variety of sources and perspectives - the more the organic argument does makes sense to me.

As for the results, honestly, I can’t say I noticed any dramatic change in my physique or in the way I feel, at least not yet. I was a successful natural bodybuilder for many years before I started eating grass fed beef and more organic foods.

However, I feel confident about my decision to spend the extra money on grass fed beef, free range chicken and a decent amount of organic food, knowing that I am avoiding putting toxins in my body and probably getting more of the nutritional value I need to support my training and my health.

This is the type of nutritional lifestyle change that may accrue benefits over the long term, even if you don’t see an immediate “transformation.”

One thing I would suggest before running out for organic fruits and vegetables or grass fed beef and so on, is consider what kind of shape your diet and your lifestyle are in right now.

if your diet is currently such a total mess that youre drinking alcohol, smoking, abusing coffee and stimulants, not even eating ANY fruits and vegetables to begin with…

…and if your idea of protein is processed lunch meat you get at subway, (and you think that’s eating “clean”), then I think it might be a little moot to worry about whether your fruits and veggies are 100% certified organic or whether your beef is grass fed. Just start cleaning up your diet and establishing new healthy habits, one step at a time.

There are some very strong opinions on this subject, I am aware of that, and I’m not going to stand up on a pulpit either way.

What I have done here is simply share what I have found from my own research and what I have decided to do in my own personal health and bodybuilding regimen. We’ll see how it pans out as I continue my competitive bodybuilding trek through the rest of my 30’s, into my 40’s and beyond.

My advice is: EVERYONE should contiuously seek ways to improve their nutrition above the level it is at now, and to become educated about what is really in your food.

Then make your own educated decision about the type of fuel you put in your own “bodily vehicle.”

Train hard and expect success,

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BURN THE FAT SUCCESS STORY OF THE WEEK
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Tom, Having genetically inherited mild hypertension from my father, it has been a constant source of frustration for me for years that no matter what I seemed to do, I could never get a consistent reading of “normal”. Despite my other fitness stats being “off the scale” - like those of a pro.(not blowing my own trumpet, it’s just a fact).

I’ve just come out of hospital following a left knee arthroscopy and must have had my pressure checked at least 7 times in less than 24 hours, the results varied from “fine” to “lovely” !. I firmly believe that this is down to the diet and training regime that I have followed since purchasing “Burn the Fat”.

Additionally, the hospital physio said that I would have a speedy recovery period, due to the good condition of my quads and hams - again I think due to the training I’ve been doing on this program. I want to thank you Tom for giving me the blueprint that made this possible and at 40(almost) years of age I have lower B.P. than I had at 30.

Rest assured I now keep a close eye on all your fitness websites for hints and tips. I hope this story helps illustrate that there are vital benefits to “Burn the Fat” other than just a better looking body. With heartfelt thanks(literally!), Tony McGuire

TOM’S COMMENT: Kudo’s and congratulations to Tony - Another outstanding success story that proves getting the proper nutrition from natural, unprocessed foods, getting the proper exercise (to burn fat, not starve it), and losing weight as a result, can not only make you look better with your shirt off or in a swimsuit, it can also lower your blood pressure and revitalize your health.

The Burn The Fat program can help you burn off those excess pounds. Find out more at www.burnthefat.com

If you currently have high blood pressure, you will also be interested in TheSilentKillerExposed, an all natural approach to blood pressure reduction.

07 April, 2006 posted in Reader Q & A