If I had to guess, I would say that you feel a bazillion times better now that you have given up the sickening sausage and added a nice big green salad to your diet. We are on the right track and you should be proud of the steps you are taking to become your healthiest self. This week we will talk about giving up the ground beef, no matter what form it may come in. We are going to kick the hamburger habit that good old ‘merica is famous for. Do we really want to be known as the fattest and sickest country in the world. I know I don’t want to be a part of that! The U.S. fast food industry serves more than 50 million Americans daily. The Average fast food meal contains 1,500 calories. Two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. One third of American children are overweight. It is time we put down the burgers and pick up the broccoli.
In a single 3 ounce serving of 90%lean ground beef there are 182 calories, 85 of which are fat calories.There are also 89 mg of cholesterol and 3.7 grams of saturated fat. Eating foods high in saturated fat raises the cholesterol levels in your blood promoting both heart disease and stroke. Eating foods with both saturated fat and cholesterol raises the blood cholesterol even further. The 2012 December Atherosclerosis Report states that red meat may increase risk of diabetes. The PLOS medicine journal reported in December 2007 that red meat may cause an increased risk of colon, lung, liver and esophageal cancers.
If cancer and heart disease isn’t enough of a reason for you to give up burgers and meatloaf, how do you feel about antibiotics and hormones added to your meal? Beef is big business in North America, and in feed lots it is common practice to fatten the cows using hormones and to use chemicals to prevent disease. These chemicals and hormones are stored as toxins in the animals fat, and remains in your ‘beef’ even after it is cooked. Our bodies have enough stress without having to digest and eliminate (or store) hormones and antibiotics from our food supply.
Got Slime? Yep, the infamous pink slime. It is made from tiny pieces of meat left over on the trimmed fat from the cow. The fat is melted and spun off of the meat. The meat is then treated with an ammonia spray to deodorize and ‘clean’ the meat. It is ground up and added to ground beef as a filler. YUM. The good news is that schools now actually can choose to order meat with out pink slime. But, do they?
We have disease causing fat and cholesterol, we have antibiotics and hormones, and we have left over bits of flesh treated with ammonia. If those are not enough reasons for you to give up hamburger think of the poor cows. They live in horrible conditions, have their children ripped away from them at birth, and are violently killed many years before they would naturally die, just so you can have a quick meal. MOO. Please, do your self a favor and give up the beef. Also, do me a favor and follow my blog by liking the facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/annieeatsapplesforever
Annie Eats Apples 