Top 10 Healthiest Meats You Ought to Eat!

Meat is one of the most natural foods that a human can eat. For hundreds of thousands of years, meat has been a foundation in human diets. Yet today, many people believe it's dangerous. That belief comes from cholesterol and fat myths that were disproven decades ago, but still the myth lives on. Hello, health champions. Today, we're going to talk about meat and the 10 healthiest ones. Number 10 is chicken thighs. So we want to think about quality when we have meat. And the pasture raised chickens, the ones that run outside and eat bugs and grass, their natural diet, they are a lot healthier, so they're healthier for us. And pasture-ace would be better than regular organic, because even if they're fed organic feed, you don't know exactly what they ate. And the worst would be the conventional where they just eat byproducts, processed stuff. And the main thing that changes is that the pasture-ace would have lower omega-6s. The worst the food that you feed them, the higher the omega-6s go and the more you skew, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. And the reason that we want to focus on the thighs or the so-called dark meat is that it's better than the white meat or the breast meat in that it's higher in zinc, in iron, collagen, and the amino acid glycine. Also, the dark meat is going to be higher in fat, and the stable fats increase satiety, and they support bile production, bile flow, and the absorption of vitamin A, D, E, and K, which are the fat soluble vitamins. So if we eat extremely low-fat diets, then we have a hard time producing bile or releasing bile and absorbing those fat soluble vitamins. And the biggest reason that I basically never eat the white meat is that the darker meat is juicy and delicious, which is a whole lot better than dry and boring. So for some of these on the list, I want to talk about also why didn't they make it to the top five, relatively speaking. How are they different to the ones we're going to talk about toward the end? Well, chicken has higher omega-6 than many of the other things we're going to talk about. It is also good, but not great in terms of nutrient density. The quality of chicken varies widely, and the vast majority of chicken's soul is really poor quality. And it's difficult to find the past your race. So do your best, do the best you can, but try to stay away from the conventional chicken as much as you can. And relatively speaking, chicken, even the past your race, is very affordable and accessible compared to some of the other things on the list. So I wouldn't stay away from it, but I would eat some chicken for variety, but again, do the best you can about quality. Number nine on the list is turkey, and just like with chicken, the dark meat is better than the white meat. And even though both of them are relatively lean, the difference here is primarily in that the dark meat has more B vitamins, especially B6 and B3. And B vitamins are very important. They support amino acid metabolism. They support neurotransmitter synthesis, and also the production of energy in the mitochondria. And in general, not a guarantee, but in general, turkeys are fed better, they're raised more natural than chickens. But why did turkey not make it to the top five? Because it is lower in mineral density and nutrients overall than some of the other things that we're going to talk about. And that's also the fat quality is not as good as with ruminants. And those are animals that graze and eat grass. And they have bacteria that break down that food. Number eight is pork. And we try to find the best quality we can, which would be pasture raised or wild boar or something like that. But it is very difficult to find. However, if we can, then pork is the richest source of vitamin B1, which can support glucose metabolism and nerve conduction, signaling in the body, as well as mitochondrial energy or ATP production. And why did pork not make it to the top five? Well, one of the big reasons is, like I said, it is very difficult to get the really good pork, like pasture raised or wild boar. So the vast majority of pork that people eat is industrial. And the fat quality is just not great when they feed them grain and byproducts and all that stuff. And if you don't source the pork very carefully, then it will tend to be a little bit inflammatory, especially compared to the top of the list. And you'll notice that I won't be talking about the protein quality or the protein content in the visually for any of these meats. And the reason is that it's not a differentiating factor. All animal proteins are good. Doesn't matter if it's beef or pork or chicken or fish, it is very, very close. They all contain all the different essential amino acids that humans need. And the differences are going to be very minor and irrelevant. So what I will discuss, what differentiates them, is going to be their micronutrient density, vitamins and minerals, and also fat quality. And depending on the fat quality, they're going to have different signaling properties. They're going to have different inflammatory properties. And also how they differ based on how they support your metabolism and hormones and mitochondria. Number seven is venison or wild game. And a lot of the problems with the meat that we eat is how it's raised, what's the environment, what we feed them. But with wild game, we don't have that problem because by definition, if it's wild, it grew up in its natural habitat. It ate the food that is innate to it. So wild game is very mineral dense. It's high in zinc, iron and phosphorus. And it doesn't have any inflammatory fat. Even though it's very lean, it doesn't have a lot of fat. The ratio of the omega-3 to omega-6 is about one. So all of that sounds great, right? Why then would it not be in the top five? And the reason is that it's extremely lean. It's not going to help us absorb those fat soluble vitamins. And basically, we have to add fat to make it a complete meal and to give us metabolic balance. And that's not a big deal. It's pretty easy to add some fat. You could add olive oil, butter or cream and make a delicious sauce with it. But wild game also has very limited availability. It's hard to find. And I can just walk into a grocery store and find it. Plus, it tends to be a little bit more expensive. Number six is lamb. And it is almost always grass fed by default because the vast majority of lamb is just raised that way. So you don't have to look really hard for a good quality lamb. And compared to pork and chicken, it has a much better omega-3 to 6 ratio, typically a 1 to 1 ratio. It has more CLA, which is conjugated linoleonic acid, which is an antioxidant, plus other antioxidants. It is nutrient dense, especially in the mineral zinc. And unlike many of the healthy options on this list, it is both delicious and inexpensive. I can't think of anything that I like better at that price point. So let's address some of the misconceptions about meat. Because a lot of people still think that meat is bad or told to avoid red meat, to not eat so much meat overall, and to stick with the lean varieties. These messages are still being sent out. So basically for as long as we've been around, humans have eaten meat. There are different cultures that have eaten different amounts, different quantities, but there's no original, no ancient human culture that has ever not eaten meat. No one's ever been completely vegan or vegetarian. So it's a very natural food for us. And then all of a sudden we were told that it's bad. And the reason was that it contains cholesterol. And it started in the 1950s, basically. They said, "This is bad." And especially one person who called Ansel Keys did some research on this and started promoting the cholesterol and fat phobia. And they looked at cholesterol plaques because it went from having been very, very low prevalence of heart disease to all of a sudden rising. And then they analyzed these little plaques and they had cholesterol in them. So they jumped to conclusions and they said, "Colesterol is bad. You can't eat it. You should eat less than 300 milligrams a day. And as a result, we could no longer eat eggs, which in reality is one of the most perfect foods we have." But then what happened as early as the 1960s, even the research that Ansel Keys continued was, he found no relationship between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol, between dietary cholesterol and heart disease. So he sort of shifted his focus from having been entirely on cholesterol to saturated fat. And we'll talk about that in a second. So Ansel Keys stopped talking about cholesterol as a problem. And then in addition to that, they continued doing research and all the way up to 2015, they could not find any connection between dietary cholesterol and blood level cholesterol, between dietary cholesterol and heart disease. And then in 2015, finally, after 50, 60 years of evidence, the guidelines finally gave in the official recommendations and said that, "Well, oops, I guess that cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption after all." So I think you'll agree how frustrating it is, how slowly things change. It takes 50 to 60 years before we collectively change our minds. But here's how slowly it really moves. So after declaring in 2015 that it's not a nutrient concern, it is still on the nutrition label. So we're still basically being told that the maximum cholesterol consumption should be under 300 milligrams. And if you eat one egg, which would be represented by this, then you would get 186 milligrams of cholesterol and you've already reached 62% of your maximum intake. So the nutrition facts label is basically a travesty of nutrition. And to this day, we are being told that sodium is a problem and that added sugars are a problem. But they're listed separately from total sugars. So we are made to believe that they're very different. So we think that orange juice is really healthy, but other sugar drinks are okay. And for those who are super, super picky and notice every little detail, you'll notice that these numbers, these facts don't really add up. So I don't know what food this actually was, but I put in the cholesterol numbers just to illustrate what an egg would be. So the other thing we're being told is bad about animal products is saturated fat. So Ansel Keeze once he figured out that cholesterol was not a problem, he focused all his attention on saturated fats. And there is some truth, some validity to a concern, but it can raise total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. However, there are some nuances to this. And it does not form plaques. It does not contribute to heart disease unless you are also insulin resistant, if there's inflammation present. If you have oxidative stress and if you have chronic inflammation, which again, insulin resistance contributes. So what's important to understand about saturated fat is that while it can raise total and LDL cholesterol, it creates fluffy LDL. When the body increases its LDL production, it is large and fluffy until we have these three factors involved at the same time. And saturated fatty acids, because they don't contain sugar, they don't contain things that cause inflammation, they can actually help reduce these three factors. But it's also important to understand that we're still talking about real food. The saturated fat in junk food is still bad because they contain other inflammatory things. They contain other things that cause insulin resistance and oxidative stress. Whereas if you get your saturated fatty acids in quality meats, like we're talking about in this video, then it's perfectly fine. And there's one more nuance that we need to talk about when it comes to saturated fat. And that saturated fat and the gut biome. So in some people, it can cause a problem. The saturated fatty acids can alter the gut balance because there are certain species, certain pathogenic species, certain species that can overgrow that really likes to feed off of saturated fatty acids. And this is part of the reason why in some people eating a lot of saturated fat can actually increase the LDL particle count. Whereas in other people, their LDL grows so large and fluffy that it never becomes a problem. So what it comes down to, saturated fatty acids can cause an imbalance in the gut that becomes a problem if you combine it with ultra processed foods and with refined carbs, especially sugar and starches, white starch, with emulsifiers and seed oils. And if you diet has a low diversity in fiber. But these last two are where we really need to pay attention and why we can't make general statements about this. It can also become a problem if you have a gut barrier that is already compromised. And this is very common. And if you have an increased growth of certain bacteria that produce endotoxin. So these would be typically pathogenic bacteria. So while saturated fat is not a problem for a healthy person, we still want to be very aware of this. And if you do proper, if you do comprehensive blood tests with particle counts of your LDL and you measure particle size. And then you make some changes in your diet and you eat some more meat and saturated fat. But the numbers don't get where you want them to. Now chances are that you have some of these factors working against you. And in that case, it would be a great idea to have some more olive oil, some more mono unsaturated fats in your diet. Number five is wild salmon, which is one of our richest sources of EPA and DHA. Those are the omega-3 fatty acids that are abundant in salmon and that your body is really looking for and most people are deficient in. Another thing that salmon has is called astasanthin, which is a very potent antioxidant. And wild salmon is also very widely available. Even though it's a little harder to find than farm raised salmon, it's pretty easy to get to and it's not outrageously expensive. And if you get the farm raised, then you're not going to get as good a level of these omega-3s and they're not going to be as favorable a ratio but not terrible either. Number four is sardines. And if you eat them with the bones, like most sardines sold in cans, actually have bones in them. They're so tiny and they kind of degrade over time in the can so you barely notice. But if you eat them with a can, then they also provide extra calcium and phosphorus in addition to the fact that they're very rich in EPA and DHA, those omega-3s that we talked about. They're very beneficial for the fat soluble vitamins, the ADEK. Sardines are also caught young and they're very low on the food chain. And why is that important? Because if they are caught young, they haven't had time to accumulate very much mercury. And being low on the food chain means that they don't eat anything else that really has mercury in it. Whereas large fish that live for a long time, they're going to have time to accumulate a lot of mercury. Sardines are also widely available and very inexpensive. Basically get a snack or a whole meal for a couple of dollars. And my recommendation. my strong recommendation we to buy them in olive oil rather than in soybean oil. So I found that the price difference is usually not an issue. Typically you can find them at the same price, but even if you pay a little bit more for the olive oil or even better extra virgin olive oil, then it's definitely worth it. It's still very inexpensive. Number three is grass fed beef, and it's one of the most nutritionally dense foods that we have. It has highly bioavailable iron, a form called heme iron. It is also rich in zinc for endocrine and immune system function. It is rich in B12, which a lot of foods do not have much of for neurological integrity and signaling. And if you get the grass fed and make sure you get the grass finished variety, then it will also have more of the EPA, the omega-3 that we talked about with fish, not the quantities that you get in fish, but they can give you a substantial amount and it will be in a good ratio between the EPA and the DHA. And it also has some of the CLAs, the conjugated linoleaning acids that you also find in lamb. And the grass fed, like I mentioned, will have a healthy omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, whereas the grain fed mass produced beef is not going to have such a favorable ratio. Unfortunately, grass fed beef and grass finished beef is becoming more widely available, even though most of the meat sold is still grain fed, which is not great, but it's better than some alternatives. And we want to think about red meat as foundational. People are scared of it a lot of times, but at the same time, human physiology has developed with ruminant meat, with red meat at the center. Number two is liver, and the best form is from beef or chicken. It is, quite possibly, the most nutrient-dense food that we have. It contains what's called retinol, which is preformed vitamin A. It's vitamin A that we don't need to convert. It's ready to go to work in the body right away. It contains folate or vitamin B9 in its natural form. Again, we don't have to convert it, like a lot of supplements that contain folic acid, it can actually be dangerous because we have to convert it, and for some people are not good at converting it, it can build up to toxic levels, never a problem with natural folate. And it's also very rich in vitamin B12, B6, in coline and copper. And it's so rich in these nutrients that before we even knew what vitamins were, before we had any form of supplements, of synthetic supplements or vitamins that we could buy, in that time before all that, it was used to treat various disease conditions. And it's so potent that long before we had any biochemistry to explain why it worked, we knew that if we give liver to people who might have anemia or pregnancy deficiencies and fatigue syndromes, then they would get better. And number one is heart. And we want this to come from beef or lamb, which is the red meat. And the heart can provide coq 10, which is the enzyme that your mitochondria in the body used to make energy. So again, before we had supplements, before we could take a pill for coq 10, we understood that we could support a person's heart. We didn't have the biochemistry to know what part did it, but giving people heart would actually help provide energy for their heart. It also contains toerine, which can help with cardiovascular and nervous system regulation. It is high in iron and zinc. And it can support the cardiac efficiency insulin resistance and cellular energy production. So let's put a little perspective on this list. First of all, ranking is not an absolute. There's no law, there's no higher power that says this is it. It's opinion. And it's based on what do we think that it provides that would be the most important. And that's going to be very different for different people. So what we want to understand is that all 10 of the things that we talked about are healthy. There's some of the healthiest foods out there, even if we rank them to make some sound better than others. It's about variety. You want to eat different things to bring all these different factors to the body for nutrition and for your palate, for culinary diversity and for your budget. Some of these are very inexpensive. Some are a little more expensive. And the biggest reason I wanted to bring this perspective in is what do you do in a restaurant? Because they're never going to have the top items or even any items on this list. So farm-raised salmon and grain fed beef, for example. If you go and you look at the menu and they serve salmon and beef, it's going to be farm-raised and it's going to be grain fed. But relatively speaking, these are still good foods. So if we put them on a list and we try to fit them in somewhere, then maybe they'd move from somewhere between three to five to maybe seven to nine. And if you have to pick something in the restaurant, you know that they're going to be vastly superior, way, way better than eating mac and cheese or than having some highly processed foods or some food fried in seed oils. So it's all relative. And when you have the opportunity, you know what the facts are about. So you can choose the best versions available and that you can afford and fit in the budget. If you enjoyed this video, you're going to love that one. And if you truly want to master health by understanding how the body really works, make sure you subscribe, hit that bell and turn on all the notifications so you never miss a life-saving video.