Happy 4th of July! I hope you have a great time with family and friends today. If you’re like millions of Americans, you’ll go to a parade and then settle down to grill some burgers. If so, you might want to reconsider. And you certainly don’t want to eat fast-food hamburgers.
Here’s why:
According to surveys, Americans consume about five billion fast-food hamburgers every year. But after they read this study published in the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology on what’s in those burgers, I don’t think they will be nearly excited about their next meal. You won’t believe what these researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found!You go to eat a hamburger because it’s made of meat, right? And you know that meat is a great source of the protein that your body needs. So how much meat do you think you’re eating when you eat a hamburger at a fast -food restaurant?
The researchers bought some hamburgers from eight different fast-food restaurants. Then they examined them for their meat content. Here’s the amazing thing. The amount of meat in some of the burgers was as low as 2.1%! The highest meat content they found in any of the burgers was only 14.8%. That’s as good as it gets folks. But that’s not all they found.
Now, we have to take these numbers in context. For one thing, the researchers found that the burgers were 37.7%-62.4% water. Frankly, that’s not surprising. All meat is half to two-thirds water. And remember, humans are 70% water! If you take away the water, the actual percentages of meat is much higher
Also the source of meat may not be the most desirable. Ground beef, the beef in fast food hamburgers, originates from the tougher cuts of the cow, including the chuck, flank and round sections. Once upon a time, the neighborhood butcher was the primary source of ground beef.
The ground beef was made from the leftover cuts of the one or two sides of beef that had been butchered that day. Back then, even when it was a wholesaler who was processing meat into ground beef, the scale of operations was small and such that the beef was distributed locally and was often made from locally slaughtered cattle.
The best choice is organic beef that has been raised on grass until slaughter. Grass fed beef gives you bneficial prostaglandins that prevent inflammation. Some “organic” beef is raised on grass until the last 2 weeks before slaughter. Unfortunately putting the cow on grass the last 2 weeks before slaughter negates much of the benefical aspects of being grass fed.
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Have a healtlhy and Happy 4th of July!
Health is a Choice,
Caroiine Heinemann
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