4 ms·

For a counter-point, I eat an extremely meat heavy diet and have a superb CRP number (.23). It's more likely about avoiding low quality meats, which unfortunat

by awolf 13y ago

For a counter-point, I eat an extremely meat heavy diet and have a superb CRP number (.23). It's more likely about avoiding low quality meats, which unfortunately is what 95% of the meat produced in the US is.

Harj 13y ago
That's a very good point. Quality of meat isn't something that seems to be accounted for in studies linking meat consumption to various diseases/health issues. Out of curiousity, do you eat a lot of vegetables?
- awolf 13y ago
  Estimating here but I'd put my breakdown by calorie as: -45% high quality meat (grassfed, pastured, cage-free depending on species) -10% low quality meat (traditional supermarket stuff) -30% green leafy vegetables (read: very low non-dietary-fiber carbs) -10% fruit or carby veggies (e.g. tubers) -5% grains (never gluten containing) So I definitely have other confounding factors that might influence my CRP number: low carbs, very low grains. That said, I arrived at my current diet via 3.5 years of A/B testing what works for me, optimizing for specifically what causes my digestion the least inflammation. I'm very happy with the results.
Alex3917 13y ago
By low quality meat, do you just mean corn fed?
- awolf 13y ago
  For ruminants, yes. But I think "just" might be understating it. Corn-fed cattle do not have the proper stomach ph to naturally protect against bacteria overgrowth in their stomachs (whereas if they consumed solely grass, this is naturally not a problem). As a workaround to the bacteria problem they are force fed antibiotics for their entire lives. Additionally: corn fed cattle yield 30-50% more meat because they are insanely obese. Beef producers have a perverse incentive to keep these animals in confined conditions (read: knee deep in their own shit) so that they don't get too much exercise. When you eat conventionally raised cattle, you're consuming the meat of a crippling infirm animal that lived its life in appalling conditions. It's a bad scene.
  - Alex3917 13y ago
    It's not just ruminants; these days even farmed fish are fed corn.
  - plaguuuuuu 13y ago
    Is there any evidence that eating corn-fed as opposed to grass-fed ruminants affects health in any way?

by awolf 13y ago

Harj 13y ago

That's a very good point. Quality of meat isn't something that seems to be accounted for in studies linking meat consumption to various diseases/health issues. Out of curiousity, do you eat a lot of vegetables?

awolf 13y ago
Estimating here but I'd put my breakdown by calorie as: -45% high quality meat (grassfed, pastured, cage-free depending on species) -10% low quality meat (traditional supermarket stuff) -30% green leafy vegetables (read: very low non-dietary-fiber carbs) -10% fruit or carby veggies (e.g. tubers) -5% grains (never gluten containing) So I definitely have other confounding factors that might influence my CRP number: low carbs, very low grains. That said, I arrived at my current diet via 3.5 years of A/B testing what works for me, optimizing for specifically what causes my digestion the least inflammation. I'm very happy with the results.

Alex3917 13y ago

By low quality meat, do you just mean corn fed?

awolf 13y ago
For ruminants, yes. But I think "just" might be understating it. Corn-fed cattle do not have the proper stomach ph to naturally protect against bacteria overgrowth in their stomachs (whereas if they consumed solely grass, this is naturally not a problem). As a workaround to the bacteria problem they are force fed antibiotics for their entire lives. Additionally: corn fed cattle yield 30-50% more meat because they are insanely obese. Beef producers have a perverse incentive to keep these animals in confined conditions (read: knee deep in their own shit) so that they don't get too much exercise. When you eat conventionally raised cattle, you're consuming the meat of a crippling infirm animal that lived its life in appalling conditions. It's a bad scene.
- Alex3917 13y ago
  It's not just ruminants; these days even farmed fish are fed corn.
- plaguuuuuu 13y ago
  Is there any evidence that eating corn-fed as opposed to grass-fed ruminants affects health in any way?