We are constantly being cautioned to watch our cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is called LDL cholesterol. I have been frustrated by the meat industry not addressing the issue in past years, but when I decided to investigate the issue, I found some interesting facts.
#1- Cholesterol can not be significantley reduced by just lowering the fat in meat. Cholesterol is in the meat, not just the fat. Although Beefalo is up to 4 times leaner than beef and also has 1/2 the fat inside the cells as beef, the real cholesterol lowering aspect of this wonderful meat is that it is crossed with bison.
#2 Bison, is itself very low in cholesterol, but when crossed with a beef animal, drops to nearly 1/2 of that of bison, according the the USDA. This may be due to the heterosis, which is huge between the two species.
#3. Bison has a study done at the University of Utah, that showed that it did not raise LDL in people, whereas beef did. That is impressive, but Beefalo also has a study done at Central Washington University that showed that it actually lowered LDL in high cholesterol men by 15 points in just 30 days. This was further impressive when you realize that the men were still dropping at the end of the 30 day trial. One wonders just how far they would have dropped?
The next time someone mentions that their beef can have lower cholesterol than Beefalo or just as low, you need simply say. Oh really, show me your USDA figures. They of course will have no such figures to show. Guess what? We do. Beefalo has been tested in at least 20 different USDA or Canadian Government labs and comes out looking great every time.
Mark Merrill
Beefalo Meats
