It’s so hard these days with all the confusing labels and packaging. How do you buy chicken? How do you buy meat? What do you look for? Well, today I’m going to tell you what to look for when you’re buying chicken, and how not to be confused by a label that sounds too good to be true. First of all, let’s dispense with what I hope everyone knows are the worst ways to get chicken. Processed chicken, like nuggets, patties, etc. If you’re picking up any chicken that’s been processed into something, then it actually has the most microplastics of just about anything that you could eat, ever. Interesting fact, the biggest mischief-maker are chicken nuggets. And here’s the bad news: plant replacements for chicken or beef also have microplastics in them. So it’s the processing that’s a huge problem here. Now before I continue, just remember that plastics and microplastics are not your friend for multiple reasons. And we’ll talk about plastics that are in contact with chicken in a second, but recent evidence shows that the ingesting of plastics, microplastics, even microplastics from bottled water, completely changes the gut microbiome in a really bad way, and you’ll learn more in the coming months about how bad that is for you.
All right, all natural. What the heck does all natural mean? As I like to assure my patients, arsenic is all natural. It has nothing to do with anything, and yet you will see that package after package after package. Okay, how about not treated with antibiotics? It turns out that the federal government banned the use of antibiotics in chicken. However, antibiotics were banned, but there’s a loophole. Antibiotics are given to chickens for two reasons. Number one, it’s perfectly legal to keep 100,000 chickens in a warehouse crammed up against each other, as long as you allow them the potential to go outside for five minutes every 24 hours to a three yard by three yard patch of dirt. That is actually the definition of free-range. First of all, any smart chicken would not stick his head out of the warehouse because a hawk might eat him or a coyote, so they’re not going to go out. And number two, do you really think 100,000 chickens can get through that door in five minutes to go outside? No. But that’s the law.
Number two, even though it is illegal supposedly to give chickens antibiotics, the loophole says that if a veterinarian who happens to be employed by the big chicken company believes in his heart of heart, or her heart of hearts, that one chicken in those 100,000 chickens is sick, they’re allowed to treat the entire 100,000 chickens with antibiotics. This happens more often than you might think. In fact, numerous testing of antibiotic-free, all-natural chicken, 60% of them test positive for antibiotics. Oops. Buyer beware.
Additionally, one of the biggest sources of urinary tract infections in women is actually from E. coli, a specific E. coli that appears in chicken breasts. So a lot of times you look and see, “Oh, here’s free-range.” Remember, it’s not really free-range. “Here’s air-chilled.” So because of E. coli, most chickens are treated with chlorine bleach to try and kill off the E. coli in these chickens, and it’s really very high. So you might assume that bleached chicken is safer, but you’re wrong. I mean you’re actually eating bleach. So just because it says “bleached” doesn’t mean a thing. Do you ever wonder why, other than economics, that they keep 100,000 chickens in a warehouse literally crammed up against each other? Because chickens, because of the corn and soybeans they eat, develop severe osteoporosis in their legs. And they grow so fast and they become so top-heavy that their legs actually break and become so wobbly that they literally hold each other up. So that’s why they’re crammed in there.
All right, well how about organic? Now the federal government says that the definition of organic means that you fed them organic corn and soybeans, or other grains that are organic. And you can call them organic, free-range chickens, even though you never let them outside. Here’s the catch: the federal government says that if the price of organic feed becomes twice as high as non-organic feed, you can legally switch to non-organic chicken feed and still keep the organic label because you meant well.
How about air-chilled? This one says “air-chilled”. Well, the process of pulling off the feathers was done by freezing the chicken. It’s one way of removing the feathers. Now famous chefs that I know say it’s a much better chicken, but it really has nothing to do with the chicken itself. It’s just how the feathers were removed. But it sure sounds good that it’s “air-chilled”.
All right, how about no added hormones? Now yes, hormones are banned from chickens and cows for that matter, but it’s really easy to manipulate the chicken hormone levels by changing its food. So when you see something like “no added hormones,” it’s exactly like saying no added sugar in grape juice or cranberry juice. What that label literally says is, “There’s so much sugar in here, we didn’t have to add any more.”
All right, now we’re beginning to see pasture raised chicken, but there’s still a catch. You would assume that pasture raised means that the chicken went out and ate bugs and grass out in the field, and that’s what they’re supposed to do. But almost all pasture raised chickens are supplemented with food from the farmer to get them to grow, particularly during the winter when grass isn’t growing all year round. The problem is that most farmers use cheap stuff like grains to feed them. So just because it’s pasture raised doesn’t give you any idea if it’s actually supplemented with additional foods. Now this is where Farmer Dan at Lectin-Light chicken, and Primal Pastures from Temecula, California come in. They won’t use soy or corn, ever. In fact, Farmer Dan from Lectin-Light chicken refuses to use any lectin in his chicken feed. And that’s why it’s called Lectin-Light chicken. I have no relationship with Farmer Dan, except I’m incredibly impressed with what he does. I have no relationship with primalpastures.com, except I’m very impressed with what they do. So look for these things. You’re in a regular grocery store, look for the word “heirloom” or “pasture raised.” It’s the best you can do in a regular grocery store. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a whole lot better about what you’re buying with the all-natural chicken.
Now I mentioned earlier plastics. The plastic wrap on your chicken will actually put an endocrine disruptor called phthalates into your chicken meat. So regardless of what chicken you’re buying, first of all, try to buy it from a butcher shop where they’ll wrap it in butcher paper. Or, worst-case scenario, take it home, wrap it in white wax paper or butcher paper or put it in a glass container, and then get rid of the plastic. It’s a major issue that I’ve talked about before. In fact, pregnant women who eat a lot of chicken which has been wrapped in plastic, give birth to boys who have smaller penises than women who don’t do that. You decide, I report.
Finally, the worst thing to do when you’re looking for chicken is believe these signs like all-natural, no antibiotics, organic, they’re fed organic corn and soybeans. And I can’t tell you the number of patients that I have with a difficult to control autoimmune disease that it’s their organic free-range chicken that was one of the final culprits. And when we eliminated that, their autoimmune disease resolved.
Where did the idea that pork is unhealthy actually come from? Well, certainly it started most likely from a religious context. Some of the biggest cultures in the world don’t eat pork. Why is that? Well, pigs are not a dirty animal. They’re actually an incredible smart animal. They’re about as smart as a dog, maybe more so. But pigs in the past could be easily infected with a parasite called trichinosis. And trichinosis would infect pigs and these parasites would be in their muscle tissue. And if you didn’t cook pork completely, these parasites could survive and enter you. And a disease called trichinosis was an incredibly painful infection in your muscles that was really quite debilitating. So you are what you eat, and you are what the thing you’re eating ate. Pigs in the past did have a lot of trichinosis. Now that’s pretty much been eliminated in at least the western culture, and pigs no longer test positive for trichinosis. So that’s where the dirty idea came from. Are they dirty? Absolutely not.
Okay, so what’s the big problem with the other white meat? The big problem is a sugar molecule called Neu5Gc. Now Neu5Gc is a sugar molecule that’s found in the flesh of pork, beef and lamb, but it’s not in humans. Now our bodies make a very similar sugar molecule called Neu5Ac. So what’s the problem? As I wrote about in Gut Check, Neu5Ac is a sugar molecule that lines the wall of our gut, lines the wall of our blood vessels, lines the blood-brain barrier, and also lines our joint surfaces. Because Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc look so similar, when we eat Neu5Gc containing foods, we can easily substitute Neu5Gc for Neu5Ac in the lining of our gut, in our blood vessels, in our joints, and in our blood-brain barrier.
So what? When we eat Neu5Gc, our immune system hates it, and it actually makes antibodies to Neu5Gc viewing it as a foreign invader. In fact, we can take healthy human volunteers and have them eat Neu5Gc, and lo and behold, presto chango, immediately they will make aggressive antibodies to Neu5Gc. The problem? Neu5Gc now sits on our gut wall, in our blood vessels, in our joints and in our blood-brain barrier. And Neu5Gc is one of the leading causes of neuro inflammation. In fact, even animals that have Neu5Gc won’t let it into their brain. So the big deal? Studies have linked Neu5Gc consumption to, you guessed it, increased inflammation, gut permeability and cognitive decline. Neu5Gc actually accumulates in human tissues where it gets attacked by our immune system. The more Neu5Gc foods you eat, the more inflammation is produced because more of it gets incorporated into these linings. Long-term inflammation from Neu5Gc has been associated with diseases like arthritis, heart disease and even cancer. In fact, cancer cells use Neu5Gc to promote local inflammation where they thrive under low oxygen levels. Since we don’t make Neu5Gc, guess where the cancer cells get it? Because you eat it. So my advice, the less Neu5Gc foods you eat, the better.
But here’s the exciting news from Gut Check. The more Neu5Ac-containing foods you eat, which is poultry, fish and shellfish, the Neu5Gc is replaced from your joints, from your blood vessels, from your blood-brain barrier. Okay, so with that in mind, are there any pork options that are healthy? So if you love pork but want to avoid Neu5Gc, there’s good news. Fermentation can actually help. So properly fermented pork, like Italian prosciutto, Parma ham, or 5J ham from Spain, and traditional European fermented sausages have virtually no Neu5Gc levels because beneficial bacteria actually eat this sugar molecule during the aging process. And that’s why most of the famed Blue Zones actually eat a large amount of originally Neu5G containing foods like sausages, like milks that have been fermented in the traditional preparation of sausage, or with yogurt or cheeses, and the Neu5Gc is gone.
Now a good friend of mine, Chef Jimmy Schmidt, a three times James Beard award-winning chef, has recently developed a method to ferment pork and beef using specific probiotic cultures that actively eat and destroy Neu5Gc, making his meats far healthier than conventional options. So check out the episode on my YouTube channel or the audio version to find out more about this. Now if you’re looking for pork that won’t overload your body with Neu5Gc, Jimmy’s products at jrranchfoods.com are some of the best options available.
Now salami, most of the salami you get in the United States is not made in a traditional way. Traditional salamis and other sausages are made by introducing bacteria into the sausage casing, and the bacteria eat, ferment Neu5Gc. Now most American manufacturers don’t do that. It’s too labor and time intensive. But some do. How do you know? So you look for the word “lactic acid cultures” on the label. If you see that, it’s usually going to be fine. Just recently a patient came in showing me a label that says “lactic acid” on the sausage that they had bought. It didn’t say “lactic acid cultures”. So just because somebody added lactic acid, has nothing to do with adding bacteria that are lactic acid bacteria. Remember, they’re always going to try to fool you. So you’re going to remember lactic acid, but what I want you to remember is lactic acid cultures. Don’t be fooled.
Are there other reasons that fermented pork sausages might be good, besides not having Neu5Gc? Well actually, the fermentation process actually produces really cool compounds called polyamines that have been shown to improve your brain health and actually promote longevity. And it’s the fermentation process of these sausages that actually produces these polyamines. More fun facts: prosciutto, or Parma ham, actually has living probiotic cultures. So say yes to prosciutto, but please look for the true prosciutto di Parma made in Italy. One of the reasons it’s really cool, because these pigs are actually fed Parmesan cheese rinds to eat. Now 5J ham from Spain is also a very special ham where the pigs are actually fed acorns, and then that ham is fermented eliminating the Neu5Gc. Acorns are rich in omega-3 fats, and 5J ham is very, very rich in omega-3. And imagine that, eating a ham that’s good for you because of the omega-3 content. Now the downside of 5J Ham is that it’s incredibly expensive. We’re beginning to see it in stores in small packages. I once had a patient from Spain who basically paid me in 5J Ham. True story. If you’re listening, I love to see you again and bring some 5J when you come. Be careful though, it’ll empty your wallet very quickly, but it’s really great.
So to summarize, pork is not the other white meat. It is not chicken, it is Neu5Gc. Chicken is Neu5Ac. Pork is not infected with trichinosis. In fact, there are a number of chefs that now serve pork pink rather than fully cooked. Downside is Neu5Gc. If you want it, use it the way traditionally it has been served, in sausages or in hams fermented the traditional way.
Iron rich foods for energy, beyond just meat. All right, first things first. What is iron and why do we need it? Well, iron is one of the most common elements on earth. We need iron to make hemoglobin, the molecule in our red blood cells that carries oxygen. We actually need iron for many other processes in cellular function. So without iron, you don’t have hemoglobin, and therefore you can’t function and carry oxygen efficiently. Now the problem is that iron has gotten a notoriety as being far more important for our health than it actually is. Now this actually started years ago in the 1950s and 1960s with a company called Geritol. And Geritol sponsored a lot of TV programs when I was growing up, and Geritol was trying to convince people that the reason you had low energy is that you had iron poor blood, and that Geritol would help with energy because you had iron poor blood. Now this of course was without any basis in fact, but it sure sold and it sponsored a lot of TV. So a huge generation grew up thinking that iron gave us energy, and nothing could be further than the truth.
The problem with iron is that, yes, we need it, but iron rusts us. Iron oxidizing is what causes rust, and iron oxidizing in us, believe it or not, makes us age faster than we should. Now I’ve been writing about it in all my books, but let me give you some very impressive examples. First of all, there was a study a number of years ago looking at people who were blood donors, versus people who did not donate blood. And lo and behold, people who were regular blood donors lived on average about seven years longer than non-blood donors. Why? Because they were getting rid of iron. Now recently, a new study was done because, let’s face it, when you donate blood you get rid of a lot of iron. And maybe there’s a point where it defeats the purpose of giving blood. Maybe you can donate too much blood and that would shorten your lifespan. So a recent Danish study looked at that very factor. They looked at blood donors and they compared the blood donors who donated the least amount of blood in their lifetime, versus the blood donors who donated the most amount of blood. And guess what they found? The people who donated the most amount of blood of the long-lived blood donors lived the longest of the long-lived blood donors. Wow. So that really makes the case that maybe we don’t need that much iron.
Case in point, as most of you know women in general live about seven years longer than men. And you guessed it, women donate on a monthly basis blood through menstruation for half of their lives. In fact, interestingly, women begin to catch up with men in terms of lifespan after menopause because they’re no longer monthly donating blood. Now what about men? Well, men used to have blood loss for two reasons. Number one, we would be wrestling saber-toothed tigers and donate blood in that way. We don’t do that anymore. But a point most of us aren’t aware of is that up until really 100 years ago, most of us had blood sucking parasites in our GI tract, either worms or amoeba or tapeworms, and they were avidly leeching iron out of us. And because of that, we have a very aggressive system to absorb whatever iron that we encounter, because for most of our existence these parasites were depleting us of iron. In fact, recently I had a new patient who travels extensively among other places in South America, and one of the interesting findings in him was he had remarkably low iron levels. And in the process of the workup, he passed a twenty-foot tapeworm. And lo and behold, once he passed his twenty-foot tapeworm, his iron levels returned to normal. So I’ve actually seen it in modern society, but long ago that was a common occurrence.
Now we do need iron, but most of us need it only in moderation. So we need to find a middle ground for getting iron into our blood. Now there’s some great sources that do not come from meat. First of all, dark leafy greens. You can get about a milligram of iron per cup of spinach. Mussels and oysters. Oysters have about a milligram of iron per oyster, mussels have slightly less. Goose and chicken and duck liver pate is chock-full of iron. And here’s the cool thing, if you want iron, dark chocolate is loaded with iron. A one ounce serving of 70-85% dark chocolate provides 3.37 milligrams of iron. That’s a lot of iron if you’re after iron.
Now finally, I’ve talked about this before. There are particularly women who are menstruating, who have heavy menstrual cycles, who are low in iron and need additional iron. One of the easiest ways to do it is to get a cast iron skillet that is not coated with enamel or ceramic, and use it for that purpose. But that is the exception rather than the rule. I’ve talked about this before. Most of my patients with high iron who do not have a genetic reason for high iron are cast iron skillet users. And if we can get you to give up your cast iron skillet, your serum iron goes down. But I understand, if you’re an active menstruating woman with heavy periods, you can have low iron and a cast iron skillet is a great way to get iron into your body.
Now this brings me to my next point. You must test your iron levels once a year. You would not believe how many new patients walk into my office and are shocked with how high their iron levels are. Now I’ve found, and it works almost universally, that if you consume two to three cups of regular tea, not herbal, it’s a fantastic way to bring down iron levels. Now once again, we do need iron, but we do absorb it avidly from our intestines. Now I have a few patients, like my tapeworm guy, who have low iron when they see me. In fact, just recently I had another gentleman who had a low iron. Guys, unless you are wrestling saber-tooth tigers, there is absolutely no good reason for you to have a low iron, and a lot of bad reasons for you to have a low iron. Bad reason number one, you’re taking a lot of Aleve or Advil or ibuprofen because you work out a lot or your job involves a lot of heavy lifting and you’re sore. These things actually cause iron loss, and it’s amazing how many times a guy with low iron, that’s the culprit.
Number two, and maybe the most common, is you have a polyp or potentially a cancer that’s leaking iron slowly. This other patient had a low iron, hadn’t had colonoscopy in a number of years. We sent him for a colonoscopy. Sure enough, had almost a marble-sized polyp, removed it, within the next blood test his iron was back to normal. So get your iron checked. If it’s low, the next thing you want to get a complete blood count with a differential, a CBC with diff. Look for the sizes of your red blood cells. A lot of people can be anemic, but not because they have low iron. Finally, if you’re a woman with active menstrual periods that are heavy and you have a low iron, get yourself a cast-iron skillet and use that, and have yourself some pieces of extra dark chocolate. One last thing. We need vitamin C to absorb iron actively. So if you want to get your iron up, chew a vitamin C tablet before your iron-rich meal. On the other hand, if you have a high iron, please, please, please don’t take your vitamin C anywhere near a high iron meal. You’ll really absorb it rapidly.
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