Deer in the Headlights

We all know that vitamins we get from natural food sources are more easily assimilated in our bodies than synthetic vitamins. So are essential fatty acids.

I posted a blip about the importance of a proper ratio of Omega 6 fatty acids to Omega 3  fatty acids a few days ago. Those fats are considered essential because our bodies cannot make them, and they really ARE essential to us. 

Here's a copy from a post by Ted Slanker with specifics about humans and cattle eating green leafy plants and/or grains.... and what each choice does to the O-6:O-3 ratio. He explains it so much better than I could...

"Scientists have determined that the “essential fats” in the membranes of cells have a very powerful influence on each cell’s ability to function. These essential fats consist of the Omega-6 family of fatty acids and the Omega-3 family of fatty acids. Via laboratory experiments on rats and in some cases humans, scientists have determined that the appropriate balance between these fats is one to one.  That means the O-6 and O-3 fatty acids must be in nearly perfect balance for proper cell function. When the balance between O-6 to O-3 exceeds 4:1 cells malfunction and chronic disease is the result. All chronic diseases are body failings. They include, but are not limited to, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, lupus, attention deficit syndrome, autism, and most other mental disorders, Crohn’s disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and the list goes on and on.

A chemical analysis of the fatty acid profiles of the cells of cattle tells the story that is common for all animal life. Cattle, which are raised on pastures and only in major emergencies are fed hay, have a 1:1 fatty acid ratio. Feedlot steers that have been fed grain have a ratio of 15:1 or higher. Skinless chicken breasts from chickens fed all “vegetarian diets” (grain) have a 18:1 ratio. 

Here are some additional ratios:  
wheat 11:1
rice bran 32:1
corn germ 59:1
raw kale 0.5:1
raw spinach 0.1:1

Many of the vitamins required by animals and humans come directly from the leafy, green plants or the meats from animals that ate the leafy, green plants.  Without this tie animals can experience severe vitamin deficiencies. For instance, after 180 days in a feedlot eating grain a steer can lose as much as 80% of the vitamin A that would normally be in its liver and 75% of the vitamin E that would be in its muscle tissues!

But what about grain?  Why is it bad?  Grain is the seed head of grasses.  Grain is one of the ways the grass-plant kingdom perpetuates itself.  Consequently, the plant kingdom does everything it can to protect its survival as a species.  Grains can host defensive fungi (endophyte) and mycotoxins.  Mycotoxins are nearly all cytotoxic, disrupting various cellular structures such as membranes and interfering with vital cellular processes such as protein, RNA, and DNA synthesis. 

Of course, they are also toxic to the cells of higher plants and animals, including humans. In addition, the chemical composition of seed heads differs significantly from the leafy, green plants themselves. Green plants can be clipped over and over again and they grow back. A green leaf falls to the ground and it becomes a food source for microorganisms that break down the leaf into organic matter that ultimately feeds the next generation of green plants.  The green plant creates its own perfect cycle.

A seed head has a strong protective coat that protects the “internal workings.”  When a seed falls to the ground it can remain in the soil for decades (under appropriate conditions) and still sprout when favorable conditions occur. For grain to perform its natural function it has to have a totally different fatty acid profile than the grass it will be once it sprouts. Seeds cannot re-grow. They are the grass plant’s one-time shot.

Man invented grain farming by isolating certain grasses and protecting them from grazing pressure until their seeds had ripened.  Then he harvested the seeds in a narrow window of time and was able to store the seeds for future use. This turned a minor food source into something that was more abundant. 

Unfortunately, even though grain farming increased the quantity of “food” available for the masses, it dramatically lowered the health of the people who ate the new food source.

Today, in America’s grain-based food system in which nearly all livestock products come from grain-fed livestock and nearly all food products have grain additives or are made from grain because it is cheap, the food system is more grain-based than during any other civilization in the history of the world except that of India. This is why 70% of all deaths in our nation are due to chronic diseases. Most other deaths are from accidents, infectious diseases, murders, and wars. Very few people die of natural causes in our country.

Here's why. Take a steer off pasture and put him in a feedlot. As he comes off pasture his O6 to O3 fatty acid ratio is close to 1:1. After about 180 days in the feedlot his fatty acid ratio will have increased to the 15:1 to 18:1 range. As his fatty acid ratio changes his vitamin levels plunge. Vitamin A in the steer's liver can drop as much as 80%. Vitamin E in his muscle tissue can fall 75%.

This is the same thing that happens to people who eat grains, grain-based foods, and food products from grain-fed livestock. Alarmingly, scientists in the know estimate that due to "modern" foods the average American consumes a fatty acid ratio of from 20:1 to 30:1. 

It's no wonder then that children in America (grain-fed from conception) have ADD, diabetes, are obese, and suffer from many other chronic diseases unheard of 60 years ago.  Their parents are in deeper trouble, yet they are none the wiser. 

The entire population resembles deer in the headlights.  It focuses on materialistic consumption while its health and well-being wallows in the sewer."