She sat across the table from me enviously eying my salad. “I’d really love some vegetables right now,” she said. We started talking about her diet — the typical diet of the typical American.

I told her that 60-80% of the diet of traditional people groups isn’t cooked. “Oh,” she interrupted, “I bet I don’t cook 60% of the food I eat.”

She missed my point. She was talking about sandwiches and cold breakfast cereals, snack bars and cheese sticks. Let’s not beat around the bush, people. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is cooked. Aside from the occasional salad or piece of fruit, we just don’t eat raw foods. In fact, we fear them.

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The best source for grass-fed meats online!

According to a Mother Earth News story published last year, “Supermarket beef is an unnatural, industrial product. The good news is there are better and safer options.” Go read the full article for the low-down on precisely what I mean when I say industrialized cows are freaks of nature.

Okay, so if you shouldn’t eat industrialized meat, what should you do?

Well, folks, it’s time for Food Renegade Newbie Tip #3.

Switch to grass-fed beef and other pastured meats.

In my opinion, this is far more important than finding a local source of organic vegetables, and it goes hand-in-hand with Newbie Tip #2 (Start eating healthy fats.)

Why is it so important?

Three letters: CLA.

What is CLA?

It’s Conjugated Linoleic Acid, and scientific research is proving time and again that this stuff:

• Combats cancer
• Fights clogged arteries
• Reduces body fat
• Delays the onset of diabetes

From the U. S. Wellness Meats site:

Recent studies in Europe indicated that patients with higher levels of CLA in breast tissue had less tumor growth. Other animal studies have correlated CLA with decreasing body fat and increasing lean body mass. One study showed that humans receiving CLA had a significant decrease in body fat as compared to the placebo group. Yet other research has shown that CLA delays the onset of diabetes and aids the battle against arteriosclerosis (coronary artery disease).

There are good fats, fats that contain essential nutrients for life and health. In the American diet, beef and milk fat are the best sources for CLA. But studies have also shown that the cattle’s diet has a significant impact on the amount of CLA in the meat and dairy products. Not surprisingly, when cattle eat their natural diet, foraging pasture grasses and legumes, CLA levels are 30-40% higher. CLA levels drop dramatically in feed lots where cattle are fed grain and other byproduct feedstuff.

On top of the benefits of extra, naturally-occuring CLA, grass-fed and pastured meats also contain a much more natural balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids.

Get this.

The ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids in a typical store bought egg are 20:1. In a truly free-range, pastured hen, it’s 1.5:1!  In industrial beef, the ratio is 21:1, but in grass-fed beef it’s usually 3:1 and can be as low as 1:1!

What does it matter? Why should I care what the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids in my diet is?

Because we now know that a balanced diet should contain an Omega-6 to 3 ratio of 4:1 or less.  Imbalance contributes to chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, asthma, arthritis, and depression. Because of the industrialization of our food supply, the typical American diet contains an Omega-6 to 3 ratio of 20:1!

This is why doctors everywhere are now telling people to increase their intake of Omega-3 fatty acids. It’s not that we need more Omega-3s in our diet, per se. It’s just that we need a healthy balance of Omega-3s to Omega-6s, and that’s nearly impossible within our industrialized food chain.

So, where do you go from here?

First, check out the links on our Real Food Resources page to find a local source of grass-fed meats. If that search leaves you empty handed, you can buy them online!

That’s right.

Online.

U. S. Wellness Meats sells grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, and poultry in addition to butter from grass-fed cows, raw Amish cheese, and raw honey. What’s not to love?

Shipping is FREE (can you believe it?), but there’s a $7.50 handling fee on each order. Obviously, the more you buy per order, the more you save. Plus, they often run really good sales. So, go check them out!

Looking for more Newbie Tips? Check out the ever-growing list here.

Cold-pressed Olive Oil

Food Renegade Newbie Tip #2

Start Eating Healthy Fats. They’re not what you might think they are.

If you’ve become a Label Nazi, you’ve probably noticed the perniciously pervasive oils that saturate the Standard American Diet (SAD) — corn & soybean oils.

These oils — along with most vegetable oils — are primarily polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) that your body doesn’t know how to use. So, your body uses these oils to make you fat and weaken your immune system. Also, these unstable oils are highly sensitive to oxidation and rancidity — so much so that in the process of making them the oil actually goes rancid! Food manufacturers then have to deodorize and bleach the oils to make them marginally palatable to consumers.

I’ve got an experiment for you. Try drinking a tablespoon of veggie oil. Repelling, isn’t it?

There’s a reason.

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Taking Baby Steps Towards Better Health

I’ve said it before, but it bears saying again: Baby Steps.

Baby Steps are the key to any real, lasting change. Offended by the word “baby”? Then, call them whatever you want — small, tiny, rookie, newbie.

The point is to make changes in small, but effective increments. You start with where you’re at, and you look to see what you can change. You make it your goal to change that one thing.

Then, you give yourself grace. Lots of grace. Grace to break every other Real Food rule. You work on your one thing — and only that — until it’s habitual.

Every diet adjustment, even the most simple, takes time. It may be two, three, or even four weeks before you’re comfortable in your new eating habits — before they “fit” like an old pair of boots.

So, where to begin?

I present the first in a series of newbie tips for those of you only just starting on your journey towards being a Food Renegade.

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