Fat. Children s brains are made of fat. So are adults. Growing brains grow by selecting building blocks of fat from the available diet. The most important brain fat is DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid. Human breast milk is loaded down with DHA, designed by nature to support brain health, growth, intelligence, as well as promoting good vision as DHA is a structural component of the retina. Numerous studies have been conducted that show that low amounts of DHA in an infant or child’s diet is related to permanent structural brain changes that diminish intelligence, vision, and behavior.
Going a step further….priming the body before the thought of pregnancy and during is as crucial and critical in this age as it was a thousand years ago. A well balanced diet including sources of DHA in the diet, such as wild salmon and pasture butter are immensely important not only for the mother-to-be’s nervous system and reproductive organs, but for providing a nutrient rich environment for the soul to be! Other sources of omega-3’s and heart necessary vitamin E are found in grass-fed meats. Being a Pacific Northwest habitat, our natural area is surrounded by lush grasses and pasture, nearly year ‘round! Unlike commercial grain-fed animals, who are often sick from the life of eating foods they cannot digest and thus riddled with bacteria, viruses, fungi, and low levels of omega-3’s, CLA (conjugated-linolic-acid, another necessary fat), vitamin e, and other nutrients, naturally raised pasture animals are easy on the environment, do not contaminate the watershed, provide natural fertilizer and food sources for chickens, meat that lasts twice as long then its conventional counterparts. What you feed your body, you put into your developing child’s body. What you put into your child’s body is what you put into the future of our society. Vitamin D, another necessary nutrient for the immune system and building bones, is in short supply in our short sun climate, and pasture fed eggs and butter are a significant source of these beautiful nutrients.
What about calories? Grass-fed meats are lower in calories, higher in B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin A and other carotene’s, iron, and CLA (conjugated-linolic-acid) which is a metabolism booster by helping to ramp up fat metabolism in the body, as well as an anti-cancer nutrient, high in calcium, potassium, magnesium. Grass-fed animals produce less gas, due to their bodies being healthy and able to digest and assimilate the nutrients in grass, and 60 percent of the fatty acids in grass are omega-3 fats!
Antibiotics are needed in great quantities for feedlot animals, as they are sick, and eating a sick diet in a confined lifestyle makes people sick too. What we eat affects us, and our children, and making a move to support your local farmers who use traditional grass farming methods and perm culture principles is one way we can improve our health, our childrens health, support our local farmers, keep our water table clean, save more of the world’s grain for human consumption, keep our air cleaner, keep less chemicals our of farms and neighborhoods by using properly composted manure, help stop the autism epidemic and Alzheimer’s, and reduce levels of pro-inflammatory omega-6’s in our bodies.
We live in a world that is Holy, and it seems a shame to shred what is Holy for the sake of profit margins. However, by taking on our own responsibility and our own power to live the best and least harmful life possible, while contributing to our future communities and bring personal understanding of our particular climatic food sheds, will the future of resilient human beings and communities be reborn!
© 2011 Summer L. Farkas Takacs-Michaelson, CH