Important Safety Advice For Meat Eaters

Factory Farmers Mix Antibiotics Into Animals' Food and Water to Promote Growth

Sherry Brescia - 27th November 2009 

About 100 years ago before food became the chemically, processed product that it is today, you could buy beef at the butcher shop and be pretty certain that the stuff inside the white paper wrapping was beef and nothing else.

Cows were raised on farms breathing clean air, drinking clean water and eating fresh grass, and were slaughtered when they reached adulthood.

Those days, unfortunately, are gone, and it's having a very negative effect on your health.

Here's why:

First of all, it's not that cows are biologically different than they were 100 years ago. But what they eat, the medicines they're given and the conditions under which they live are dramatically different.

All of these factors affect the cows' organs, muscles and tissues in harmful ways.

And so, my friend, if you are a meat eater, YOU are affected too.

Here's a look at what's going on:

A Big Pile of You-Know-What

Many of the meat and dairy products sold in the US now come from "factory farms"-- huge facilities where tens of thousands of animals are crammed together in tight conditions.

Tens of thousands of cows make a LOT of cow dung. And these factory farms, not being equipped to process all that poop, they pile the manure into large cesspools and spray it onto the land.

This makes their factory workers sick and contaminates nearby rivers, streams and ground water -- the water that YOU drink.

Plus many of the cows have faeces on their hides just before they go to slaughter--and that poses a risk of contamination of the meat from viruses and bacteria.

Antibiotics, Anyone?

Factory farmers mix antibiotics into the animals' food and water to promote growth (bigger cows mean more profits) and prevent outbreaks of disease in the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 70% of all anti-bacterial drugs used in the US are fed to livestock. That means 25 million pounds of antibiotics are fed to cows each year--eight times the amount used to treat illness in humans.

So when you eat the meat of these cows, you are getting a big dose of antibiotics--and that throws your intestinal bacteria completely out of balance and gives the "upper hand" to harmful microbes. That can and does lead to major digestive problems and a weak immune system.

Plus when you are continually exposed to low-level antibiotics can become resistant. For example, almost all strains of staphylococcal (staph) infections in the US are resistant to penicillin, as well as many other drugs.

Steak, Baked Potato... and Hormones

With the approval of the FDA and USDA, factory farms use hormones to promote growth in cows.

Again, the bigger the cow, the bigger the profits--your health be damned.

A 1999 report by the European Commission found that hormone residues in meat can affect the hormonal balance in humans, causing reproductive issues and breast, prostate and colon cancer.

Plus milk from cows injected with growth hormones has higher levels of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). Elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans have been linked to colon and breast cancer. All the meat you buy in your local grocery store has been injected with growth hormones.

E. Coli

Cows, by design, were meant to eat grass. But in factory farms, they eat mostly cheap corn and soybeans for the last few months of their lives. These grains make them fatter (making them literally "cash cows") and make the meat more tender--a process called "finishing."

But researchers noted that cows who eat corn and soybeans for the last months of their lives have much higher levels of E. coli bacteria in their intestines. So any faeces that leak out (and it frequently leaks out) during slaughter can contaminate the meat with E. coli. Vegetables can also be contaminated with E. coli if manure is used to fertilize the crops or they're sprayed with water that contains animal waste. The 2006 E. coli spinach contamination is a perfect example.

So What Should You Do?

Well, food production is big business and it doesn't appear the FDA, USDA or Dairy Association is going to compromise the profits of the food giants any time soon.

But there are ways to enjoy your beef and minimize the risk to your health.

1. Buy Grass-Fed Organic Beef (and other meats)

These animals are raised in more natural conditions and are not given antibiotics and hormones. If you're not sure where to find them, Google "organic beef" (or chicken, etc.).

2. Eat Less Meat Overall

All forms of meat are acid-forming to your body, so the less you eat, the better. Too many acid-forming foods leads to digestive disorders, obesity and inflammatory diseases like arthritis, migraines and fibromyalgia.

A healthy diet should contain 30% or less acid-forming foods and at least 70% alkaline foods, so meat should be less than 30% or less of your diet.

The manual "Foods That Create Acid, Foods That Take It Away" will spell out exactly which foods are acid vs alkaline, and show you the tremendous health benefits of having an alkaline pH.

Check it out here at: Great Taste-No Pain

3. Properly Combine Your Meats

It's essential to eat meat with the right other foods to make it more easily digested by your body and prevent overproduction of acid.

The manual "How To End Stomach Pain Forever, Even If Your MD Says, 'No Way!'" teaches you the few simple principles of good food combining so you can make sure ALL of your meals are pain-free. Learn more about it here at:- Great Taste-No Pain

4. Keep Your Intestinal Bacteria in Balance

Your intestinal bacteria balance can be affected not only by antibiotics in the food you eat, but also stress, toxins, lack of sleep and medications.

Harmful bacteria overgrowth has been linked to digestive disorders like IBS, colitis and Crohn's, as well as asthma, allergies and auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.

Probiotic supplement formulas contain strains of super-potent, pharmaceutical grade friendly bacteria that will help keep your population of "good guys" healthy and strong, and ready to fight the effects of antibiotics and toxins in your food.

Source:  Sherry Brescia
 
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