Enlarge image i Heifers at Timber Ridge Cattle Co., an operation in Osceola, Iowa, that feeds some of its cattle flaxseed.
Heifers at Timber Ridge Cattle Co., an operation in Osceola, Iowa, that feeds some of its cattle flaxseed.
Flax is the oily seed usually spotted in the nutritional supplement or cereal aisles. It's marketed as a superfood because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber.
Omega-3s may do all kinds of good things for humans like protect against Alzheimer's, heart disease and even cancer so it seems reasonable to think they could also protect the health of animals.
That's what has Jim Drouillard, a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University, wondering whether flax might be good for beef cattle. In a series of experiments over the past 10 years, he found that feeding flaxseed to cattle in the five months before slaughter reduced inflammation and the need for antibiotics, and offset some of the negative effects of a corn-based diet. It also had an unexpected benefit for consumers.
"We were interested in improving the health of the animals, but we also saw that we could get a large increase in omega-3s in the [meat]," Drouillard tells The Salt.
Drouillard had stumbled upon omega-3 enriched beef, and some people who sell beef took notice. Their hunch was that consumers might prefer to get their omega-3s from beef rather than salmon, tuna or walnuts. The U.S. Department of Agriculture got on board, too.
"Assuming a lot of people are not going to eat flax or be able to afford salmon, one of our arguments [for flax-fed beef] is that there are a lot of people who like to eat beef," says Scott Kronberg, a research animal scientist with USDA's Agricultural Research Service who has done his own research on the benefits of flax-fed beef.
Enlarge image i NBO3 launched its enriched ground beef at the Tops grocery chain in New York in March.
NBO3 launched its enriched ground beef at the Tops grocery chain in New York in March.
Earlier this year, a Kansas startup, NBO3 Technologies, launched its GreatO ground beef product at a grocery chain in Buffalo, N.Y. The company says a 4-ounce serving contains 200 to 350 milligrams of omega-3s (that's less than a fifth of the amount of omega-3s found in a similar portion of salmon).
And in Osceola, Iowa, Peter Woltz is giving his cattle flax for the omega-3 enriched beef sticks, summer sausage and jerky products he sells online and at farmers markets under the brand name Timber Ridge.
Before he got into the flax-fed beef business, Woltz raised cattle on a conventional feedlot. But he says he decided to sell it because it required too much crisis management.
"There's always the risk of disease," he says, "so you have a very active antibiotic program, and sometimes you give it to them whether they need it or not. That turned me off."
When Woltz heard that there were opportunities to produce "all natural" beef without hormones, additives or antibiotics, he was intrigued. "It sounded like a more sane, responsible way of producing beef," he says. Drouillard's flax feed also appealed to him as a way to make a niche product.
About one-fifth of Woltz's cattle now eat flax in the last 100 days before slaughter, when it makes up about 8 of their feed. And he says those cows are healthier than the ones that don't get flax.
"It was a real surprise to us how big the health benefits to the [flax-fed] herd were," he says. "Pinkeye outbreaks are very common in raising cattle, but in six years of doing this, I have never seen a flax-fed cow with pinkeye."
Woltz says he believes his herd of flax-fed cattle will continue to grow. "It's just a question of how fast do we want to expand the herd."
But Kronberg of the USDA cautions that the economics of flax-fed beef aren't yet well understood. "Flax is pretty expensive nowadays, and the profitability of beef production is not always so good," he says. "So it will be interesting to see how these companies do."
Across the pond in Europe, animal science researchers are enthusiastic about flax, too. They're feeding it to dairy cattle to improve their digestive health and reduce methane emissions from their belching.
Flaxseed: Men's Health.com Stay lean and healthy with inflammation-fighting flaxseed, one of Men's Health's 40 nutritious foods with superpowers. 5 Essential Foods that Reduce Inflammation and Optimize Health ... Excess inflammation is a major cause of disease in our modern times. It is linked to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, arthritis and even the aging process. This makes ... Omega-3 fatty acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Omega-3 fatty acids (also called 3 fatty acids or n 3 fatty acids) are fats commonly found in marine and plant oils. They are polyunsaturated fatty acids with ... Omega-3s - Fish Oils, Flaxseed Oil and Prostate Cancer - What do ... (NaturalNews) Just how good are fish oils, flaxseed oils and other omega-3s at preventing prostate cancer? According to the experts quoted below, they may represent ... Photo Gallery: 13 Best Superfoods - Health Information, Resources ... Ask five nutritionists to rate the 13 most powerful foods and you'll get five different lists but many of the selections will overlap. Why? Because every food ... Supplements for Health: Probiotics, Enzymes, Green Superfoods ... Learn which health food supplements are best to be taken on a regular basis. Green superfoods, flax oil, apple cider vinegar and more is discussed. Cod Liver Oil - Number One Superfood - Share The Wealth This article from the Weston Price foundation is an absolute must read like many on the site. If you do one thing to improve your health than this is it.... Publications NDSU A list of current publications from NDSU Extension Service. ... The materials on this site are organized by topic. Use the menu on the left to browse for materials ... Healthy Food: 50 Of The Best In The World Each month at HuffPost Healthy Living, we compile lists of the most in-season, fresh superfoods -- this June, for instance, we celebrated figs, zucchini ... ACES News :: College of ACES, University of Illinois Read more about Stop the summer brain drain before it starts; Stop the summer brain drain before it starts
No comments:
Post a Comment