Tag Archives: grass-fed

An easy Bulgogi Beef Skillet recipe from Paleohacks

April 15, 2019Uncategorizedasian, Asian pear, asian pears, beef bulgogi, black pepper, brown sugar, bulgogi marinade, bulgogi marinades, bulgogi recipe, bulgogi recipes, bulgogi sauce, cast iron, cast iron skillet, cut of beef, fire meat, flank steak, garlic cloves, gluten free, grass fed beef, grass-fed, green onion, green onions, ground black pepper, high heat, korean, korean bbq, korean bbq beef, korean beef, korean bulgogi, korean cooking, korean dish, korean dishes, korean food, korean foods, koreanbul-gogi, kosher salt, large skillet, main dish, main dishes, medium-high heat, pork bulgogi, Recipe, rib eye, ribeye, ribeye steak, rice wine, sesame oil, sesame seed, sesame seeds, short rib, short ribs, shortrib, shortribs, side dish, side dishes, skirt steak, soy sauce, soy sauces, stir-fries, stir-fry, stove-top, stovetop, thin slices, vegetable oilDennis Keohane

If you’re craving takeout, try this easy, one skillet beef bulgogi recipe from our friends at Paleohacks for sweet and spicy flavor with zero soy, MSG, or preservatives!

Bulgogi is a popular Korean recipe that translates literally to “fire meat.” Super thin slices of strip steaks, sirloin steak, or ribeye are marinated in spices until tender, then grilled or pan-fried. The result is a sticky, crispy, and slightly spicy recipe that can be turned into a complete meal with a side of cauliflower rice or stir-fried veggie noodles.

The unique marinade includes ripe, grated Asian pear for sweetness, texture, and tang. The acidity in the pear also helps to tenderize the meat. If you can’t find Asian pears, a traditional pear will work just fine. To add a subtle spice to the marinade, use gochugaru, the bright red Korean red pepper. This powder is less spicy than cayenne and creates a balanced heat that lets the other flavors shine through.

Coconut sugar stands in for brown sugar, adding sweetness and helping to crisp the steak for delicious texture. Finally, toasted sesame oil adds nutty aroma while ginger, garlic, and coconut aminos add even more flavor and dimension.

To make the bulgogi, mix all the ingredients for the marinade together, add to the sliced beef, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Then, grease a medium skillet with avocado oil—not olive oil. Avocado oil has a high smoke heat point that can withstand high cooking temperatures without burning. Cook the steak about two minutes per side, in two batches.

To serve, top the hot steak slices with sesame seeds and scallions, and enjoy!

If you’re craving more takeout recipes but don’t feel like cooking, check out one of these 13 totally Paleo meal delivery options!

Paleohacks’ Korean-style BBQ Bulgogi Beef Skillet

Prep time- 10 minutes

Cook time- 10 minutes

Chill time- 4 hours

Total time- 4 hours, 20 minutes

Serves- 4

Tools

Mixing bowl

Skillet

Tongs

Ingredients

For the Marinade

1/3 cup grated Asian pear, peeled

1 T Korean red pepper (or chili powder)

1 T coconut sugar

1 T lime juice

2 T toasted sesame oil

2 T coconut aminos

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t sea salt

For the Steak:

2 10-oz strip steaks, thinly sliced

1 t avocado oil

1/2 t sesame seeds, for serving

1/4 cup chopped green onion, for serving

Directions

1. Combine ingredients for marinade in a mixing bowl and stir well.

2. Add steak slices and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.

3. Grease a skillet with avocado oil and heat over medium-high heat for a few minutes. When hot, use tongs to add half of the marinated steak strips and cook for 2 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 2 minutes.

4. Transfer steak to a bowl and repeat with remaining strips.

5. Serve the beef bulgogi hot garnished with sesame seeds and green onion.

A taco-stuffed sweet potato? Another great recipe from Paleohacks

March 8, 2019Uncategorizedamerican, best paleo, cast iron skillet, cooking time, grass fed beef, grass-fed, ground beef, ground black pepper, high heat, kosher salt, mexican, olive oil, Paleo, Recipe, slow cooker, sweet potato, taco, tacosDennis Keohane

The great recipe team at Paleohacks has shared another tasty dish with Roam. This Mexican-inspired recipe features sweet potatoes stuffed with taco meat and topped with homemade guacamole for a single serving meal everyone will love!

Ditch the tortilla and stuff your favorite taco fixings inside tender roasted sweet potatoes for a filling and guilt-free meal.

Tacos are a dinner staple that everyone can agree on. However, when following a Paleo lifestyle, tortillas can be difficult to replace. Traditional tortillas and other grain-filled foods can cause bloating, which is why sweet potatoes are such a great alternative. Plus, they’re big enough to stuff with drool-worthy toppings for a fun twist on taco night.

Grass-fed ground beef carries the smoky taco spices, like cumin, onion powder, and chili powder. A little tomato paste adds to the tangy zip. And as we all know, no taco is complete without a scoop of creamy guacamole. This one is kept simple with chopped onion, cilantro, and jalapeños so you can mash it together while the meat sizzles on the stove.

Get started by greasing the sweet potatoes with avocado oil, which helps to lightly crisp up the skins. Bake for one hour, then let the sweet potatoes cool at room temperature while preparing the other ingredients.

Meanwhile, heat ground beef in a skillet until browned, then stir in dry seasonings, tomato paste, and a little water. Cook about five minutes more.

While the taco meat cooks, make the guacamole by mashing an avocado until just slightly chunky. Add red onion, cilantro, sea salt, and jalapeños.

When everything’s ready, slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise and fill it up with taco meat. Top with a scoop of guacamole and finish with freshly diced tomatoes. Enjoy it while it’s hot!

Other great toppings to include:

Pickled jalapeño
Diced mango
Sliced radishes
Chopped bell pepper

Tip: Try baking up a few additional sweet potatoes so you can have these decadent sweet potato brownies for dessert!

Taco-Stuffed Sweet Potato

Prep time- 10 minutes

Cook time- 1 hour, 15 minutes

Total time- 1 hour, 25 minutes

Serves- 4

Tools

Parchment paper

Baking sheet

Skillet

Spatula

Small bowl

Ingredients

4 sweet potatoes

1 T avocado oil

1 lb ground beef

1 T ground cumin

2 t chili powder

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 t onion powder

1/4 t cayenne pepper

2 T tomato paste

1/4 cup water

1 medium ripe avocado

2 T red onion, chopped

1 T cilantro

1 T minced jalapeños

1/4 t sea salt

1/2 cup tomatoes, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Grease the outsides of the sweet potatoes with avocado oil and set on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, then let cool.

3. Meanwhile, heat ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, using a spatula to break up the meat. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in dry seasonings, tomato paste, and water until thoroughly combined. Continue to cook for 5 minutes.

5. While the taco meat cooks, prepare the topping: Mash an avocado in a small bowl. Add the chopped red onion, cilantro, jalapeños, and sea salt. Stir well.

6. When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them down the center lengthwise. Stuff with the taco meat, then add a scoop of the guacamole and diced tomatoes and serve.

If you liked this recipe, then you’ll love this sweet potato cheeseburger casserole recipe that you can make with just one pan.

Everything you want to know about humanely raised beef, pork, and chicken

August 14, 2018Uncategorizedamerican, animal health, animal welfare, animal welfare approved, animal welfare practices, animal welfare standards, Australia, entire lives, factory farm, factory farms, family farmers, farming practices, free range, fresh air, grass fed beef, grass-fed, grass-fed animals, grassfed, grassfed beef, humanely raised, humanely raised animal, humanely raised animals, humanely raised meat, humanely raised products, humanely-raised meats, humanelyraised, humanelyraised meats, living conditions, natural behaviors, perdue, poultry products, temple grandin, united statesDennis Keohane

Humanely-raised meat — ethically, pasture-raised with sustainable farming practices involved — is of higher quality than standard, factory-farm meat for a number of reasons. Most importantly, animals live better when raised by ethically-minded farmers and ranchers.

It’s important that animal health is considered in every step of the lifecycle. Their natural tendencies should be honored: Cattle should be able to roam, hogs graze, and chickens should be raised on pasture.

When it comes to understanding humanely-raised meat, it is good to get a grasp of the decisions made by family farmers for whom animal welfare is a top priority. Was the animal healthy and content? Was it ever administered antibiotics or hormones? Farms and company facilities should operate with best practice s— for example, Dr. Temple Grandin’s livestock principles.

Below, we detail ethical practices for farming and processing grass-fed and finished beef, heritage-breed pork, and organic, free-range chicken.

Grass-fed, grass-finished beef

Only one percent of the total beef consumed in the United States is 100 percent grass-fed and grass-finished. American beef that meets that standard comes from cattle that were free to roam on pasture throughout their entire lives, nursing from their mother for six to nine months, and then grazing on a natural diet of grass. Grass-fed and grass-finished cattle — usually only referred to as grass-fed — consume only grass for the entirety of their post-nursing lives, while grain-fed cattle may have been supplemented with grain or corn or finished with grain.

Grass-fed cattle feed on annual and perennial grasses, forbs—herbaceous flowering plants—and cereal grain in a pre-grain state. Grass-fed cattle graze year-round, with access to shelter when needed.

This is in contrast to grain-fed cattle, which constitute the vast majority of beef consumed in the United States. Grain-feeding cattle is a relatively recent development; animals throughout most of history were free to roam and eat grass.

While grass-fed cattle roam freely in the fresh air, grain-fed cattle are moved to concentrated feedlots. They’re fed a grain-centric diet based on soy or corn and put on weight more rapidly than pasture-raised cattle. They are often treated with antibiotics and hormones to maximize growth. A vast majority experience very poor living conditions their entire lives.

Beyond concerns about the life of the animal, grass-fed beef also offers major health benefits to the consumer. Typically leaner, it’s less fatty and caloric. It boasts more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef, more antioxidant vitamins and more healthy fats that might reduce chronic diseases.

While the animal’s food source is crucial to its quality, it’s equally important to ensure that the animal is humanely raised. In order to be certified humane in the United States, the animal can never be confined for intensive feeding. It must have access to adequate grazing pasture. It can only be confined for no more than 20 days a year for animal management, like husbandry or treatment.

A majority of the grass-fed, grass-finished beef on the market comes from Australia, which has very high animal welfare standards as well as the climate and pasture land to allow cattle to spend their entire lives grazing.

Heritage-breed pork

Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc—have you heard of these breeds of pig? They belong to a class known as heritage-breed pork. Traditionally bred for food, these breeds of pig dwindled in numbers during the rise of industrial agriculture. Heritage-breed pigs are better adapted to withstand disease and live in open pasture. Unlike factory farmed pigs, heritage-breed pigs are not treated with antibiotics, hormones, and don’t live in temperature-controlled indoor units. They possess unique genetic traits and are raised on sustainable farms.

In order to be considered certified humane, these pigs are not subjected to farrowing and gestation stalls. Gestation stalls enclose sows during pregnancy, while farrowing stalls pen sows in while nursing piglets. Just as with cattle, there are no concentrated feeding operations. While conventionally farmed pigs typically have slatted floors in their environments—proven to increase leg problems for pigs—heritage breed pigs are raised on farms without slatted floors.

Perhaps the best part about heritage-breed pork is its delicious, succulent flavor. Heritage-breed pork is more marbled than conventionally-farmed pork, meaning juicier, more flavorful meat.

Some breeds take a bit of time to get to market weight, but they’re so delicious, they’re worth the wait.

Organic, free-range chicken

Chickens given regular access to the outdoors, rather than being kept in heavily confined conditions, are much happier than their factory-farmed counterparts.

These birds are called free-range chickens. They have access to as much outdoor space as they do indoor space, including special enhancements like hay bales and places to climb. They roost in barns and roam in and out as they please, interact with other chickens, and live as nature intended. This results in a stress-free, cage-free, happy life for the chicken. The quality of your meat, in turn, is much higher.

In addition to free-range, higher quality chickens should be antibiotic and hormone free. Unfortunately, factory-farmed chickens are usually subjected to an array of antibiotics. Hormones, however, are prohibited across the industry.

Chickens fed vegetarian diets from both foraged and feed sources tend to be healthier. Additionally, free-range chicken often forage for bugs, grubs, and the like, which is exceptionally healthy for them. With non-genetically modified grain diets and pesticide-free growing environments for the feed, these chickens qualify as non-GMO and organic. Plus, in addition to being humanely-raised and healthier for you, they taste delicious.

NY strip steak – An iconic steak in New York and beyond for good reason

August 9, 2018Uncategorizedamerican, best steak, best steaks, black pepper, cast iron skillet, compound butter, good steak, grass-fed, grassfed, hot skillet, kansas city strip steak, kosher salt, n.y. strip steak, n.y. strip steaks, New York strip, new york strip steak, new york strip steaks, new york strips, ny strip, NY strip steak, ny strip steaks, ny strips, olive oil, pan seared, perfect new york strip steak, perfect steak, porterhouse steak, porterhouse steaks, rib eye, rib eye steak, rib eye steaks, rib-eyes, ribeye, ribeye steak, ribeyes, room temperature, sea salt, short loin, steak dinner, steak lover, steak lovers, steak recipe, steak recipes, steaklover, strip loin steak, strip loin steaks, strip steak, strip steaks, striploin steak, striploin steaks, stripsteak, strip_steak, t bone, t-bonesDennis Keohane

You can find it featured on the menu of most reputable steakhouses, and although it goes by various names, when one thinks of a perfectly sized, tender, and flavorful cut of beef, likely, they are imagining a New York strip steak.

The strip steak comes from the topmost section of the sirloin, a little-used area of muscle, the longissimus, that is commonly referred to as the strip loin or top loin. The strip steak is sometimes prepared with a bone attached; quite often, you can find the strip is part of a T-bone steak or Porterhouse steak when part of a larger bone-in cut that also includes tenderloin steak — by itself, filet mignon.

Delmonico steak, Kansas City strip steak, or NY strip steak?

As a standalone steak, it is most commonly referred to as the New York strip steak, but it can also be called the New York sirloin steak, the Kansas City steak (with bone-in) or Kansas City strip steak, contré filet, strip loin steak, hotel steak, ambassador steak, club sirloin steak, or in some parts of the world, simply sirloin steak. Also, the New York strip can be — or has been known — as the Delmonico steak.

The connection to Delmonico’s, the famous New York steakhouse and restaurant first opened in Lower Manhatten in the 1820’s, is likely how the cut earned its most famous moniker, the New York strip steak. However, it is unclear if a Delmonico steak, or the original Delmonico steak, is, or ever was a strip steak from the top loin or a ribeye steak. The reason for the confusion is likely due to steakhouses across the country seeking to mimic Delmonico’s famous steaks, but using an array of different — yet similarly tender and thick — cuts. Those who have investigated the Delmonico and New York strip steak connection, refer to the cut also being called a club steak, a reference to the restaurant’s early days as one of the first American dining clubs.

However convoluted the naming history of the cut may be, one thing isn’t up for debate: New York strip steaks take relatively little preparation and can be cooked to a melt-in-your-mouth level of deliciously quite easily.

The perfect NY strip steak

Whether pan seared — or reverse seared — grilling on a charcoal or gas grill, or cooking by some other method, all a New York strip steak really needs is a coating of crushed black pepper and kosher salt or sea salt and some compound butter. Just a few ingredients, a few minutes of cooking time, and you can get the perfect steak for any steak lover. The easy prep is one of the reasons it pops up on restaurant menus so often.

According to ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak, the lack of too much visible fat also makes New York strip steak a steakhouse favorite.

“There is a breed of steak lover out there who likes things a bit leaner,” Chef Yankel explains. “I used to see them in restaurants all the time; they would order a big ol’ ribeye and leave all that amazing fat sitting on the plate. It inspired me to offer a NY strip steak as the lean alternative.”

“When butchered properly, it has only a thin strip of fat running down one side — and besides its natural marbling — the strip steak presents itself as the less fatty menu option,” continues Chef Yankel.

And, there is a business reason as well: According to Chef Yankel, a NY strip steak is a high-value item for a restaurant because there is nearly no waste. “It dry ages well, cooks quickly, and requires almost no skill to do it perfectly and deliciously.”

“Personally I like slow smoking them at 225°F until they are rare, resting them for a bit, and then finishing them over a raging fire for the ultimate crust,” he added.

The cut does also benefit from a bit of marinating if you want to marry a grass-fed, grass-finished New York strip steak to other flavors you may be preparing. Below are two of Chef Yankel’s favorite methods for marinating and cooking the perfect New York strip steak.

NY Strip Steak with Chef Yankel’s Zesty Marinade Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ButcherBox NY Strip Steaks
3 limes, zest and juice
1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp crushed black pepper
¼ c olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients for marinade in small bowl. Mix well and coat steaks thoroughly.

2. Allow steaks to marinate refrigerated at least one hour, then bring steaks to room temp before cooking.

3. Grill steaks over charcoal or open flame for 4 to 6 min per side, or until internal temperature reads 120°F. Rest steak 8 min before serving.

Chef Yankel’s 5-minute NY Strip Steak Marinade Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ButcherBox NY Strip Steaks

Marinade/Dressing:

¼ c balsamic vinegar (the higher-quality, the better!)
½ c extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp chili flakes
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Bring steaks to room temperature and season with salt and pepper.

3. Mix all marinade ingredients. Pour ¼ c over steaks and let them sit at room temp for 5 min.

4. Preheat cast-iron skillet. Once skillet is hot, sear steaks on both sides for 2-3 min per side or until a nice crust forms.

5. Place pan in oven for 5 more min, or until thermometer inserted in thickest part of steak reads 120°F.

6. Let steaks rest for at least 8 min before slicing. Serve alongside salad and enjoy!

Baby back ribs – A smoky, sticky summer treat that you can enjoy anytime

July 24, 2018UncategorizedBaby back, baby back pork ribs, baby back ribs, barbecue, barbecue pork, bb meat, bbq, bbq pork, braised pork, butcherbox meat, butcherbox pork, Chef Yankel, grass-fed, grassfed, heritage breed pork, Kansas City BBQ, Memphis barbecue, Memphis BBQ, pastured pork, Pork, pork ribs, slice against the grain, slow cook, slow cooked pork, slow cooker, smoky barbecue, sustainable pork, Texas barbecueDennis Keohane

Baby back ribs are a staple of true barbecue masters’ arsenal — from St. Louis to Memphis, South Carolina to the heart of Texas.

And whether slow cooked for a few hours in a Crock Pot or an entire day in a smoker, baby back ribs are delectable no matter how they are prepared.

The cut comes from the top of a pig’s rib cage, specifically the area just below the loin between the spine and what we know of as the spare ribs. Baby back ribs are distinguishable by their tapered shape and the greater amount of meat — compared to spare ribs — often found on top of and between the rib bones. Usually, a rack of baby back ribs includes between eight to 13 ribs that vary in length from three inches to about six inches.

While any reputable smokehouse or barbecue shop will have baby back ribs, how to cook them — more specifically, how to flavor them — is a source of disagreement among the major barbecue regions of America: Carolina, Texas, Memphis, and Kansas City styles. Although we don’t have to break down which version of BBQ is best at this moment, there is something perfect with having a little sweet and savory flavor added to baby back ribs.

Baby back ribs are also one of the cuts of heritage-breed pork that ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak loves to experiment with when he cooks.

“Every time I cook baby back ribs, I learn something new,” Chef Yankel says. “They are super flavorful and have just the right amount of fat.”

“And of course anything with a bone attached is just that much better.”

There are many ways to cook baby back ribs. You can check out a few in our recipe pages.

But Chef Yankel has a very specific method to get his ribs just right: “I give them one hour of smoke at 225°F, then two hours in the oven at 250°F, wrapped tightly in foil, bone side down and with a splash of vinegar.”

“To finish,” Chef Yankel explains, “I give them 30 minutes on the grill with about 10 applications of a sweet and sticky BBQ sauce.”

You can check out Chef Yankel preparing his “Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs with Chipotle Pineapple BBQ Sauce” in this video or use the “Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Ribs” recipe below if you don’t have a smoker but want to slow cook your baby back ribs.

Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Ribs

Ingredients:

1 pack ButcherBox Baby Back Ribs

The Rub:

1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp ginger powder
1 Tbsp dry mustard powder
2 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp kosher salt

The Liquid

¼ c maple syrup
¼ c coconut amino
¼ c sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp liquid smoke

Directions:

Pat dry ribs with a paper towel and peel off membrane on the bone side of ribs. You can also score the membrane with a sharp paring knife in an ‘X’ formation.
Mix all rub ingredients and massage into ribs.
Place all liquid ingredients in slow-cooker, then add ribs. Cook on low setting for 4 hrs.
Let rest in liquid 20 minutes before serving.
For a super quick sauce, remove ribs from slow-cooker, then place all liquid in saucepan, and simmer until thickened.
Pour over ribs and broil for extra crispy texture and real BBQ flavor!

Grass-fed and grass-finished beef: How not to be fooled by beef industry tricks

April 13, 2018Uncategorizedamerican grassfed, animal welfare, ate grass, beef industry, certified organic, conjugated linoleic acid, consumer, eat grass, essential fatty acids, farmers, fatty acids, fed grain, feedlot beef, feedlot cattle, free range beef, grain fed, grain fed beef, grain-finished beef, grass fed beef, grass fed meat, grass finished, grass-fed, grass-fed cattle, grass-fed diet, grass-finished beef, ground beef, hay, health benefits, highest quality, how do i know grass fed, natural beef, omega-3 fatty acids, open pastures, quality, quality grass-fed beef, trust, trusted beef, trusted food, trusted food brand, trusted meat, united states, usda, what is grain fed, what is grass fedDennis Keohane

One of the more fascinating aspects of the meat industry in the United States is the use and misuse of product naming and labeling by various purveyors. We’ve covered this topic a fair amount, quite honestly, because it is an area where we see so much manipulation and, sometimes, purposeful deception of consumers. This is most striking when it comes to grass-fed cattle and the designation “grass-fed beef” in particular.

Grass-fed AND grass-finished

One of the first things we discovered about quality grass-fed beef is how little customers know about the products they buy and eat.

There’s not that much to know, but, crazily, it’s still very confusing for the consumer. Grass-fed beef is expected to come from cattle that eat grass — or other green forage — while grazing in open pastures for their entire life. Seems pretty cut and dried.

However, transparency hasn’t always been the beef industry standard.

The fine print – Grain-fed beef

Confusion arrives with the use of labels such as “grass-fed, grain-finished beef,” which could trick consumers into thinking the meat they are eating is something it is not. Basically, “grass-fed, grain-finished” is conventional beef, the same thing as every cow raised.

Currently, 98 percent of beef consumed in the United States is grain-fed beef. However, every cow starts out the same way: It is raised the first six months on its mother’s milk and continues for about a year just grazing on grass (and hay or other “forage” as it is impossible to grow cattle on grass year-round in most regions of the country). After half a year, the majority of cows move to the feedlot where they are fattened on grains for the last 90 to 160 days before slaughter.

But some cattle continue to graze and feed on grass after those first six months. This is what people think of when they seek out truly grass-fed, grass-finished beef.

When a label says “grass-fed, grain-finished,” that’s just the same thing as every other steak or roast at any supermarket. They were taken to a feedlot, just like other cattle. Although, that’s not what the labeling is trying to imply.

You can even have grass-fed and grain-fed cattle on the same ranch.

An example of grass-fed grain-finished marketing (with the branding removed). This is what they want consumers to imagine the cattle’s life entailed.

Why aren’t all cows both grass-fed and grass-finished?

The entire system is built for grain-fed, not grass-fed production. Grain-finishing is more efficient and cheaper, and it adds weight a lot quicker to get the cattle primed for slaughter. It also gives the cattle the type of marbling and fat content that Americans have grown accustomed to in their beef. If you think about it, even the “quality” ratings we use to talk about our beef — choice, select and prime — are based on marbling and rapid weight gain.

Feedlots and grain-finishing

Beef sales have been on the decline for a number of years, and a big reason for that is because people think that steaks are unhealthy. The reality of what makes beef potentially unhealthy has to do with the artificial fattening of the cow. Not only do grain-finished cattle eat food that has not been a traditional part of their diet, but feedlot cows also have more antibiotics and hormones than those that grazed for their entire lives (that is until some stricter FDA rules were put in place in 2017 tried to limit this practice).

Studies have discovered that grain-fed, corn-fed, or grain-finished cattle do not have the same nutrition profile as grass-fed. Studies show that cattle fed grain lack as many good omega-3 fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) as grass-fed cows. Both of these essential fatty acids have pretty great health benefits.

And yet, the system is structured in a way where grass-fed is just not an option for most cattle ranchers and beef producers. They have limited resources and must focus on making their cattle operations as efficient as possible. Letting cattle graze for their entire lives does not work for many beef producers.

An example of grass-fed grass-finished marketing.

Purposeful misrepresentation

Some nefarious producers still want the financial benefits of shipping grass-fed, natural beef. This led to the creation and use of the grass-fed, grain-finished label.

Mislabeling isn’t the only tactic that has confused consumers. We’ve heard a lot from people who’ve tried grass-fed beef before and didn’t like it, even saying that it tastes like shoe-leather. We cannot imagine how someone could think that tender grass-fed, grass-finished beef tastes anything other than delicious.

We discovered that at one point producers trying to get into the grass-fed market would sell dairy cows. While most dairy cows are just fed grass, they are often old by the time they stop producing milk. In these instances, the product being sold was not beef raised with the intention of being high-quality meat, but that it was raised for dairy and got used for meat, under the implication that it was “grass-fed.” But as the market has grown, more and more companies have decided to raise grass-fed cows specifically for meat instead of dairy cows.

And so most of the beef on the market tastes a lot better than what people who remember eating grass-fed meat — but were actually eating dairy cow — have experienced.

This issues of misrepresentation and mislabeling have been a persistent problem for consumers who may have been unknowingly ignorant to the realities. When someone buys grass-fed beef, they think they are getting an idyllic cow grazing in a field. Too often that hasn’t been the case.

Finding real grass-fed beef

One of the challenges for the customer is that they have good intentions, they want to eat a quality product, and they want the benefit of eating a steak that’s better for them. But they can easily be led astray.

The key is for consumers to look for labels and brands that offer either 100 percent grass-fed meat or the grass-fed, grass-finished labeling. There are also a lot of organizations that offer to certify that products are indeed fully grass-fed. This includes the American Grassfed Association. However, the USDA, which only monitors certified organic beef, does not concern itself with grass-fed regulation. The story of how certified organic/grass-fed beef is labeled and regulated is the topic of another post entirely.

ButcherBox is a brand that stands against all this confusion. We partner only with the farmers whose interests are aligned with our own. We want to bring the customers the best quality meats without any surprises.

And, we are willing to scour the globe to do that.

We want to end the confusion about grass-fed, grass-finished beef. It’s time to be able to access high-quality, trusted meat.

The mystery of ‘organic grass-fed beef': Why organic and grass-fed aren’t the same thing

April 3, 2018Uncategorizedcertified organic, certified organic beef, conjugated linoleic acid, family farms, fatty acids, filet mignon, grain fed beef, grass fed beef, grass fed meat, grass-fed, grassfed steak, health benefits, New York strip, Omega 3, omega-3 fatty acids, organic, organic beef, organic certification, organic meats, organic pastures, pasture raised, quality beef, usda, usda organicDennis Keohane

Here at ButcherBox, we are proud to be able to deliver nutrient-rich, thoughtfully-sourced grass-fed beef to our subscribers’ doors each month.

We get many questions about what the differences between grass-fed and organic, and, for that matter, why grass-fed is better than supermarket meat. It comes down to a few critical issues: Feed, certification, and, at least for us, treatment.

Grass-fed beef

We’ve written about grass-fed beef on numerous occasions. Our passion for healthy grass-fed meat is the reason why we started ButcherBox.

Grass-fed beef is, by definition, meat from cattle that have grazed on grass — and sometimes forage — in their lives. This is in opposition to grain feeding, which has long been the standard of the beef industry and is most likely what you buy from the grocery store or butcher.

Because a grain-fed cow eats grains as its primary source of food, its meat does not have the same nutrition profile as meat from a cow that has eaten grass its entire life. For instance, grass-fed beef has a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, as well as more good fatty acids, nutrients, and minerals than grain-fed beef.

Also, grain-feeding occurs on feedlots, which we are vehemently opposed to. Grain-feeding in feedlots — where cattle are crammed into pens together — is done to make cows fatter to bring to market more significant quantities of beef that have marbling that the American consumer has unfortunately become used to over the past century.

Because of the horrible conditions at feedlots, which breed disease and the desire to raise bigger cows faster (i.e., get more meat on the market more quickly, regardless of quality), grain-fed cattle often receive antibiotics and hormones as well.

Thoughtfully-sourced meat is not just healthier, it’s more humane: No pens, no feedlots, no hormones, and no antibiotics.Pasture-raised cattle graze on grass as nature intended.

This brings us to one of our most significant concerns when it comes to grass-fed meat: Purposely deceitful labeling of some meat products.

Grass-finished is the key

The term grass-fed is used so often, that it is assumed that all “grass-fed” beef is the same: Meat from cows that have spent their lives grazing on lush grass green fields.

However, some meat producers purposely trick consumers into buying grass-fed beef when they are actually buying grass-fed, grain-finished meat. We’ve discussed this on Roam before, but here’s the Cliff’s Notes version: Almost all cattle spend the first year of their lives grazing with their mothers and eating grass. Industrial farms then move these cattle to inhumane feedlots. Unfortunately, some producers use this as justification to label their beef as “grass-fed, grain-finished,” just because the cows ate grass for a short period.

Additionally, some beef industry operators do feed their cows grass, hay, or forage for the majority of their lives. But they also feed the cows grains to fatten them up, labeling their meat “grass-fed, grain-finished” as well.

When consumers buy grass-fed beef, they are expecting meat that is more nutritious than grain-fed or corn-fed beef. Grass-fed, grass-finished has more good omega-3 fatty acids, more conjugated linoleic acids, and other vital nutrients.

More than anything, being pasture-raised — truly grass-fed — is good for the cow (a cow’s digestive system evolved to eat grass, not grain or corn).

So what is organic beef?

Organic beef is meat that is sourced in a specific way so that the USDA designates it as “certified organic.”

According to the Department of Agriculture’s website, to meet the standards of the “certified organic” label, a cow needs to be raised, “in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.”

Now the problem is that this means there are no qualifications on what that organic feed can be. This is the most prominent difference between grass-fed, grass-finished and organic beef.

A filet mignon or New York strip steak you buy that is organic may be from an animal that has eaten corn or grain its entire life, not grass-fed cows.

A grass-fed New York strip that comes from pasture-raised, grass-fed cattle has more health benefits — good fatty acids, nutrients, and the better omega 6 to omega-3 ratio — and, to our mind, tastes better. But, it may or may not be organic grass-fed beef.

The important distinction is that most grass-fed beef is raised organically, but organic beef is not necessarily grass-fed. Not all farmers receive the organic certification label from the USDA, either because the process is too cumbersome or they use some non-organic product on a section of their land, so they don’t have “organic pastures” to meet the standard for a certified organic label.

I know this is confusing.

From our perspective, the “organic” label is not as important as whether or not a cow is grass-fed and grass-finished, is raised humanely, and has never been given hormones or antibiotics. Period.

To ensure this, we vet our farmers carefully before we partner with them, and stay in close communication with them, to make sure they meet our high standards.

Our close relationship with our farmers — many of whom run small independent or family farms — allows us to bring the highest-quality beef products to our members each month.

A chat with Cassy Joy Garcia, the force behind Fed and Fit

January 17, 2018Profilesauthors, better living, ButcherBox influencer, Cassy Joy Garcia, entrepreneurs, Fed and Fit, Fed Fit, grass-fed, grass-fed health, health, health blogger, health podcast, health program, influencer, Kitchen, nutrition, nutrition program, Paleo, podcastDennis Keohane

Cassy Joy Garcia is a truly inspirational entrepreneur.

Talking with her recently, Cassy’s exuberance and passion for Fed and Fit —the healthy eating and mindset project she founded — and more importantly, life in general, was apparent within moments of starting our discussion.

Cassy has been blogging about living a happy, healthy life since 2011. In her early twenties, the Texas A&M University graduate dealt with consistent joint pain, fatigue, and anxiety. Figuring that a change in her diet, and the type of foods she was eating, might make a difference, she not only started learning about nutrition but began writing about her experiences as well.

Shifting to a grain-free, dairy-free, artificial ingredient-free lifestyle, what she describes as “Paleo before I knew that Paleo was a thing,” Cassy felt better, lost weight, and had more energy. She started writing about her experiences to share what she had learned with family and friends. That has evolved into Fed and Fit, a company built around Cassy’s nutrition and lifestyle advice, recipes, a book, podcasts, and a massive community of like-minded souls.

I’m sure you will thoroughly enjoy our conversation (which happened in the last weeks of Cassy’s pregnancy) and I can only hope that the joy she has for Fed and Fit, and helping others comes through in our talk.

ButcherBox: Cassy, great to chat. Can you tell our readers about how Fed and Fit came to be?

Cassy Joy Garcia: I’m a certified nutrition consultant, but I started my blog before that happened. About eight or nine years ago. I started to try some sort of a Paleo-type diet. I had dieted for years before that with no real success and then started a “real-foods-type” of a protocol. This is kind of before Paleo is the thing it is today, so that’s not what I called it.I just thought that it made a lot of sense nutrition science-wise as far as being anti-inflammatory, and it worked.

After about nine months I wanted to figure out how to turn it from a diet into a real-life solution because I had felt so great for the first time in my life.

Prior to this breakthrough, in my early twenties, I had some joint pain that was pretty debilitating and was always kind of sleepy. But you know, when you live with these sort of chronic conditions you don’t realize that they’re optional. So when those started to clear up is when I really realized that I wanted to keep eating that way, so I started to get creative in the kitchen and came up with different recipes instead of just eating grilled chicken and steamed broccoli every night.

I guess a major milestone came about nine months later when I really realized how far I had come and after eating mostly real foods, eliminating grains, eliminating artificial sweeteners, eliminating all the unhealthy fats, and also incorporating a mixed fitness program that had a lot of strength training in it. I had gone down a grand total of five dress sizes, from about a 10-12 to about a 2-4, but I hadn’t lost really a lot of weight because I built a lot of muscle over that time. My joint pain was gone and I had more energy than ever; I was sleeping better, too. All that wonderful stuff! And I had friends and family who were asking me what I was doing, and what I was eating, and so, the easiest way for me to share that was on a website.

So I started a website and it just blossomed from there. I had folks who started to find the website and ask really great questions as time went on, and so, in order to answer their great questions, I went back to school to get better answers. That’s when I became a nutritional consultant through Bowman College.

From that point, I could work with folks one-on-one. When my docket of clients was full —you know my dance card was essentially too full to take on any more clients — I turned that into an online program, that I called the Fed and Fit project.

BB: Which led to a book, right?

CJG: Eventually, I took the program and combined with about almost 200 new recipes which turned into my first book. Published through Victory Belt, Fed & Fit came out in the fall of 2016. Its got a copy of the program in there, of course.

Things with Fed and Fit just kept growing. The online program is a bit more robust now. Also, I got involved in not just food, but in a larger education piece.

It’s not just about giving somebody a really great casserole recipe, it’s about educating them on why these ingredients are important and why it can really make a big difference to cook from home more often than not.

Now I operate from the standpoint that knowledge is power. I think that when we know better we do better, not only in relation world around us and how to make an impact on folks weight loss goals — because that’s usually what draws people in first — but also in terms of the impact we can have on just the health of the of the earth overall and our pocketbooks long-term when it comes to medical costs. There’s also the impacts we’re having long-term on the health of our family and our loved ones, so I’ve gotten into some more lifestyle coaching with Fed and Fit.

Now we talk about safer skincare ingredients and the sourcing of that. We dive into that a bit more in the podcast. It’s just kind of taken off. We’ve been able to build a very nice small team of nutrition consultants and therapy practitioners at Fed and Fit, and we’re just working to bring good content out.

BB: What was the experience of writing the book like? Was that something you’d thought you’d do for a long time?

CJG: You know it was definitely a goal of mine. I feel like I’m an educator at heart, and I had a lot of things that I wanted to teach.

A book really just made a lot of sense. It was a really good and concise place to write my ideas in one spot. Writing a book definitely became a goal of mine when I realized professionally that Fed and Fit was my path.

What I learned from the process was that it is best not to rush into it. I really took my time with that book, and I probably could have published a book years before, but I decided to wait until I really felt like I was answering a need.

Also, writing a book is a lot of work and takes a lot of patience. But then again, there’s no substitute for really hard work and doing the research and taking your time. Additionally, it was important to make sure I was asking my audience for their thoughts throughout the process. Ask what would serve them well and what kind of information they were looking for.

BB: What has been surprising, looking back, on building a business around the blog posts, the book, the podcasts, and more?

CJG: I think one of the things that I like to tell folks who think that they want to become a full-time blogger is that there are no shortcuts. I think that especially when it comes to starting a program and writing a book and really figuring out how to serve people, you have to be out there. You have to listen to what questions are being asked, and there’s no shortcut for that.

There’s no shortcut for listening to questions that your readers are asking and doing the research, trying to bring them better content, and then, sometimes, going back to the drawing board. Also, when you write constantly, you are in an always in edit/draft/publish mode. I think that that’s really important to understand, that and knowing that you can’t just come out with a program, take an Instagram class, and in turn a blog into a business overnight.

You have to really be serving people and figure out what it is that they’re looking for.

BB: What’s next for you and Fed and Fit?

CJG: That’s a good question. You know, we’re chatting in January, so we have all these new folks enrolled in the Fed and Fit project in January. They’re just some of the most excited and engaged people, and so it’s a lot of fun to work with folks who understand that the point of the project is not to just be another diet.

It’s great to constantly be learning what works for your body and working with people to have those “A-ha” moments when they realize they don’t have to be shackled to a dieting program the rest of their lives. It is really rewarding.

I also really love the lifestyle piece. I’m kind of moving my blog content in a direction that is not just some recipes and some nutrition science facts but more towards how to make good decisions in our everyday life. I like talking more about the products we’re using in our homes to clean, the products we’re using on our bodies, and how we’re making those decisions. We like to present that information in a way that it allows folks to make those decisions for themselves. It’s a really fun riddle to solve.

I’ve always loved getting into the lifestyle stuff in the podcast because that just jives really well with my personality.

BB: How has your pregnancy impacted some of the content and work you are doing with Fed and Fit?

CJG: On a personal note, the pregnancy definitely brings to mind that I’m not just eating these nutrients for me but that I’m eating them for the two of us. So the priority has been on, for example, pastured beef and making sure I’m getting in those organ meats. So that perspective has definitely shifted and solidified in a sense. Even though it’s always been a priority.

I definitely think that Fed and Fit is also going to continue to grow as our family grows in terms of content. It’s a balancing act between the decisions we’re making in the home, and then what we publish on the blog. It has been a pretty fun adventure, but yeah, we will have more baby and family columns coming out in the future.

BB: That’s fantastic, good luck. Shifting a bit, when and how did first learn about grass-fed beef?

CJG: Oh, man, it was so long ago. I really don’t remember where I first learned about it.

I try to tell folks considering where to invest their grocery dollars is that one of the best investments you can make on your grocery bill is in really high-quality proteins and high-quality fats. If you’re looking for a place to really splurge that it would be there because of the benefits of pastured proteins — truly grass-fed and grass-finished proteins.

It can have such a tremendous positive impact on our health when you think about the fats and the absence of hormones and antibiotics that conventional cattle and other livestock are fed. I really try to prioritize those healthy proteins above all.

BB: What differences do you notice between grass-fed v. grain-fed meat?

CJG: I think that as with any industry, someone is going to muddy the waters with marketing, so it’s on us as consumers have to be more and more diligent about making sure we’re getting exactly what we want. When we go to the grocery store, and we pick up something that says grass-fed beef, and it’s cheaper than the other grass-fed beef sitting next to it, you have to realize that there’s a chance that it’s not actually grass-fed, grass-finished.

I think it is important for consumers to also be really vigilant about knowing and doing research on the companies that you are sourcing your products from.

I love ButcherBox because I trust the sourcing process that you guys go through. And I trust you to recommend the best to my readers.

We need to make sure that we’re going with companies that are going the extra mile for us. So while it’s okay to get some of those proteins from the grocery store, it’s better to go through a real-life cow share with somebody or a rancher that you know and trust or a company, like ButcherBox that has gone the extra mile to source those proteins.

BB: What else should we look for from Fed and Fit in 2018?

CJG: So we’ve got some big things coming out this year.

Number one will be a new podcast kind of unrelated to Fed and Fit. We’re going to call it “The Joy Report,” and we’re just going to share what it seems like people are really hungry for: Positivity and good news. We’re gonna share really fun stories that we get from around the world, so, we’ll probably have that coming out sometime this spring.

I am also working on some sort of a casserole business. We want to make it so that folks will be able to actually order a casserole and have it delivered to them.

Lastly, there may be the potential for another book in the works.

BB: Wow, that’s a lot! Cassy, it has been great meeting you and hearing about Fed and Fit. Most importantly, good luck with the soon-to-arrive baby!

CJG: Thank you!

BB: To learn more about Fed and Fit, check out Cassy’s website. Also, you should definitely check out the podcast and the Fed & Fit book.

Mark Sisson on living a well-balanced, healthy, and active life

July 21, 2017Profilesbalanced diet, balanced life, Fitness, grass fed beef, grass-fed, healthy diet, keto grassfed, keto lifestyle, keto reset diet, ketogenic, ketogenic beef, Mark Sisson, paddleboard, Paleo, Performance, primal, Primal Blueprint, Primal KitchenDennis Keohane

Mark Sisson is not only a leading voice on how to eat healthy foods and maintain peak athletic performance, but he is the embodiment of what better living is really all about.

At age 63, Mark is able to balance family, business, pleasure, and an active lifestyle better than anyone we’ve ever met. And he doesn’t run just any business, he manages an entire multimedia and retail operation that includes books, blogs, restaurants, online stores, publishing, and coaching. What’s more, he does all that and still has time to play ultimate Frisbee each week, spend time with his family, and workout or paddleboard when the calling comes.

Mark is a truly incredible person, and we were lucky to catch up with him and to ask him about how he evolved from a champion runner to the face of a massive life-changing organization.

ButcherBox: Mark, great to catch up. Can you talk about the progression of your running career to being an advocate for eating healthy foods to improve performance?

Mark Sisson: In my early running career, I ran track at Williams College and later went on to finish 5th in the USA Marathon Championship. I qualified for the 1980 US Olympic Marathon Trials but had to miss that “career goal” race due to issues with overtraining and a highly inflammatory diet. I was disheartened, to say the least. I was competing at the highest caliber class, but issues like arthritis, IBS, tendonitis (the list goes on) were inhibiting my competitive career.

After losing both health and vitality through the training regimen and the highly inflammatory diet, I vowed that I would find a way to be as fit, strong, and healthy as possible, with the least amount of pain, suffering, and sacrifice required.

After extensive research and years of experimenting, I regained my health and enjoyment of life by simply changing how I ate. That was a huge epiphany: Food was 80% of the solution to ALL my health issues.

BB: What led you to write The Primal Blueprint?

MS: I was so blown away by the dramatic shifts in my own health that came from simply rethinking my food choices, that I started to wonder how many tens or hundreds of millions of others might be suffering the same fate.

I started blogging in 2006 at Mark’s Daily Apple about my life’s transformation with this incredible new way of eating and living. Since then, millions of people have followed the advice in my blog and seen remarkable transformations themselves. The response led me to take the lessons I had learned and shared on my blog and organize them in a comprehensive book, The Primal Blueprint. Later, I went on to put those same (and new) findings into the book Primal Endurance, which details the changes I made to my training and fitness regimen.

BB: What has been most surprising, looking back, about the reactions to your books and blog posts?

MS: Beyond the millions of readers, tens of thousands of testimonials, thousands of before and after pics, I guess I am most surprised (pleasantly) by the number of health professionals who have reached out and told me that they have completely changed the way they treat patients.

I would also add that the immediate traction our Primal Kitchen® products received right out of the blocks was a testament to the demand for clean foods that I and a number of other bloggers have espoused for over a decade now.

BB: What is your take on grass-fed meats?

MS: Not only am I in favor of consuming grass-fed meats, I firmly believe farming grass-fed animals represent one of the only ways to effectively reclaim barren and/or desertified land and generate enough new topsoil to be able to grow healthy vegetables. It’s critical to our ability to feed more people. (Vegetarians, too!)

BB: What were some of the realizations that made you feel that way about grass-fed?

MS: The fatty acid profile is superior in grass-fed meats. Also, grass-fed animals are generally living in better conditions, consuming the foods for which they are evolutionarily suited; as such, they are generally free from antibiotics and added hormones. The #1 realization came while eating one of the best grass-fed steaks I ever had in one of my ButcherBox deliveries!

BB: What have you noticed about eating grass-fed meat versus grain-fed?

MS: Probably the weird fact that I feel more satisfied with less meat eating grass-fed versus grain-fed. I like that since I have a tendency to overdo a nice big steak.

BB: What do you value most when making decisions about the foods you eat?

MS: First and foremost, it has to taste great. I don’t put anything in my mouth that doesn’t taste fabulous—no matter how “healthy” you tell me it is. Having said that, the ingredients must all be nutritious and “clean.” No bad oils, nasty artificial flavors, sweeteners, refined carbs, etc.

BB: When did you discover the idea of a paleo or (neo-paleo) diet?

MS: As a young kid, I actually remember gravitating towards a few food options, like soup made from full chicken (or bone broth as we know it today) and, without knowing it then, other foods that were nourishing what my body craved.

But, my primal instincts really began to ignite in high school and as a pre-med student at Williams College when I could read and learn as much as I could about anatomy, biology, anthropology, food systems and so on. I was fascinated by evolution and decided early in my career to use evolution as the lens through which I would evaluate most of my diet and lifestyle choices.

BB: What is it like to run a business built around books and a blog focused on healthy eating and athletic performance?

MS: It’s a dream come true, actually, to have a business based entirely on my passions for eating healthful and great-tasting food, having fun staying fit, and educating people on how to regain excellent health.

BB: How do you separate yourself from the noise in the healthy food and diet industry?

MS: That’s difficult at times. There are so many companies that are trying to enter the “better for you” space in food. But we keep upping the ante with each of our endeavors. Our Primal Kitchen Restaurants are designed to offer clean eating fast casual breakfast,

There are so many companies that are trying to enter the “better for you” space in food. But we keep upping the ante with each of our endeavors. Our Primal Kitchen Restaurants are designed to offer clean eating fast casual breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There our emphasis is on tasty “curated” signature dishes — versus the proliferation of “protein bowl with side” concepts. The idea was to have a place anyone and everyone of any eating style could go to and get a great-tasting meal based on clean, lean proteins, healthy fats, and low or no sugars.

Our Primal Kitchen food company is centered around making healthy sauces, dressings, and snacks. We recognized that once you get rid of grains, sugars, and industrial seed oils, you are left with a relatively small list of clean food ingredients available on a regular basis — such as meat, fish, fowl, eggs nuts, seeds, veggies, and fruit.

What makes the difference, and what keeps eating healthy exciting, is what you put on the food—the herbs, spices, sauces, dressings, etc. The response to these products has been overwhelmingly positive and made us one of the fastest growing food companies in the US last year.

BB: Wow. Some really amazing insight Mark. Thank you for the time to talk! Make sure you check out Mark’s books, blog, and the Primal Kitchen restaurants and store. If you want to read more about Mark, check out Outside Magazine’s great profile of him last year.

Also, look out for The Keto Reset Diet, Mark’s book coming out on October 3rd.

Maria Emmerich – Guiding light of the ketogenic lifestyle

June 29, 2017Profileschemical-free, cooking, flavor, grass-fed, health, ketogenic, superfoodsDennis Keohane

Maria Emmerich is one of the people in the wellness and nutrition space whose passion for helping others achieve healthy lives we greatly admire here at ButcherBox.

Emmerich is the best-selling author of The Ketogenic Cookbook, and eight other books on health and wellness including Keto-Adapted and the soon-to-be-published Keto Restaurant Favorites. She also runs the popular blog Maria Mind Body Health, which features unique recipes that use alternative ingredients and information on how eating better can improve one’s health in a wide array of unexpected ways.

We interviewed Maria to find out more about her, ketogenic nutrition, and how grass-fed meat is a vital part of a healthy diet.

ButcherBox: What does it mean to live a ketogenic lifestyle?

Maria Emmerich: Almost every cell in our bodies can run on two fuels, glucose or fat (free fatty acids or ketones). Living a ketogenic lifestyle means you restrict carbs enough (less than 20 grams or so a day) so that you use fat as your primary fuel for your body.

BB: When did you realize the importance of being selective about the foods you consume? And how did you discover a ketogenic diet?

Maria: I have always tried to “eat the right food” since I was in high school. Back then, I followed the low-fat, whole grains thinking and it didn’t work. I got into running marathons, but I was overweight and suffered from IBS, acid reflux, and more. I knew there had to be some way to avoid these issues, so I spent the ten years researching the ketogenic lifestyle and writing books about it. Changing my diet ended my IBS and acid reflux. I also shed the extra pounds, and now I feel amazing.

BB: What has been most surprising, looking back, about the response to your books and blog posts?

Maria: I am always amazed at the support from our followers. I think the amount of time and heart that we put into helping people makes people want to support us and creates an amazing group of people all helping each other get healthy!

BB: What is your take on grass-fed meats?

Maria: In addition to a ketogenic lifestyle we also emphasize quality whole foods and chemical-free ingredients. It is important to have grass-fed meats as part of your diet because it gives you much more nutrient-dense protein without antibiotics or other chemicals in your food.

BB: What were some of the realizations that made you feel that way about grass-fed?

Maria: There are so many things wrong with cattle feedlots. The over-use of antibiotics is one, but there are also problems with cattle being fed corn because it is often GMO corn that likely contains glyphosate which can then get into the animal. I believe that some of the leaky gut that is so common today is due to these small amounts of glyphosate getting into the food supply.

BB: What differences have you noticed between eating grass-fed meat versus grain-fed?

Maria: I just love the flavor. There is nothing like a grass-fed hamburger full of rich beef flavor.

BB: What is your take on the meat industry as a whole?

Maria: Animal proteins are one of the most nutritious foods we can eat. For some reason, this is lost in the popular understanding of food. In our soon-to-be-released book Keto Restaurant Favorites, we outline how animal proteins are some of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. When you think of superfoods, everyone thinks of fruits and veggies. But animal proteins, especially offal (organ meats), are the real superfoods. This chart from Keto Restaurant Favorites shows the comparisons: BB: What are your views about the dieting space in general?

Maria: There is a ton of bad information out there. Some of the food studies that exist are very flawed, and quite a few studies are actually the result of corruption. Take, for example, the focus on saturated fats and their connections to heart disease. That idea arose in large part due to studies funded by the sugar industry to take the focus off of sugar according to a recent story by the New York Times.

BB: How important is it to you to maintain authenticity while making food recommendations to others?

Maria: That is of absolute importance to us. I believe it is why we have such a strong following. People know they can trust us. We get tons of offers to promote products that contain ingredients or methods that don’t meet our standards. We could make a lot of money off of these products, but it would compromise what we stand for. Our followers know that if we approve of a food or product that we trust it enough to feed it to our sons.

BB: What has been most surprising, looking back, about the response to your books and blog posts?

BB: Thank you, Maria. We here at ButcherBox are looking forward to the release of Keto Restaurant Favorites!