As we continue into the twenty-first century, the speed of science, technology and information is mind-boggling and often confusing. The field of health and medicine is no exception. During the 20th century, the emphasis has been on curing disease; doctors are paid for curing illnesses. But in ancient times, doctors in China were instead paid for keeping their patients from getting sick -- their pay stopped if illness developed. Today, preventive medicine is resurging and curing and preventing disease are taking giant strides forward.
Anti-aging research has exploded around the world. It is now generally recognized that humans are capable of functioning and living healthy well past 100. The emerging science of anti-aging focuses on prevention of disease, and maintaining our endocrine system, immune system and nervous system at youthful levels. Previously, scientists thought reduced hormone function from the endocrine system was a result of aging. Now the belief is that aging, in part, is caused by declining hormone production. An evolving theory is that if we keep youthful levels of natural hormones longer, we age much slower. Heart attack, cancer, osteoporosis, type II diabetes, and brain attack (stroke) generally occur after hormone production has declined or has malfunctioned. This is an emerging science in the fields of medicine and anti-aging.
In the 20th century, medical schools graduated MD's without a serious study of nutrition. Today, we are experiencing the realization that our environment, including the food we eat and our lifestyle in general, determines how effectively our endocrine, immune and nervous systems function. In other words, we can have a much greater control over our health and quality of life. We have to take responsibility for our own health and that of generations to come. With the advent of the World Wide Web we can now search out information never before available, but health information is often controversial and online information is often unreliable, so it is difficult to know what to believe. My solution is to learn from as many sources as possible and then make informed decisions. It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than relying on only one expert whose knowledge is very specialized. It's your health and now is the time for you to manage it.
As a responsible supplier of food products, I feel we have responsibility to tell you what information we have found and where we have found it. We also have to analyze this information to determine the direction of Maverick Ranch Natural Meats and to plan for own future health. The food we eat is the fuel that keeps our body systems functioning. We, as humans, can be compared to a car. If we put in the wrong fuel (such as putting diesel in a gas engine), a car will start sputtering and die. Whereas, with the proper fuel, and checkups, we can prolong our useful life, just like we can an automobile engine. Our food must consist of the proper ratio of carbohydrates, fat and protein in order for our systems to function properly. Minerals and vitamins also have a major impact on all of our systems.
It is up to each of us to learn about foods and their impact on our bodies. Sometimes the popular information on diet, etc. is not based on good science. For example, during the last 20 years, when carbohydrates have been popularized, the result has been fat storage. The U.S. has the fattest population in the world partly due to our diets and lack of exercise. Fortunately, good information is being published today showing how our endocrine systems store fat when an imbalance of insulin and glucagon is produced by the pancreas as a result of eating too many carbohydrates. Best selling books such as "Enter the Zone" by Dr. Barry Sears and "Protein Power" by Dr. Michael R. Eads M.D., and Mary Dan Eads M.D., as well as Dr. Robert Atkins' diet books, all are based on managing our endocrine system through the food we eat. We highly recommend these books.
For the past 20 years, red meat has been the scapegoat. In reality, protein, carbohydrate and fat must be consumed in the proper balance. Much has been written about the proper ratio of carbohydrate, fat and protein in our diet, as it affects our health. Usually these authors are only experts in one area. At Maverick, we have never found anyone who can piece together the "big picture" so we are spending a lot of time on researching all of the factors that contribute to the big picture.
First, we have to learn how to fuel and guide all of the systems in our body so that we can prevent the major diseases such as heart failure, brain failure, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and others. Once we obtain some of this knowledge, then we have to look at the contaminants in our food and what effect they have. It's no different than additives or contaminants in gasoline. We finally learned to take lead out of gasoline, which reduces air pollution. Ironically, some nutritionists tout high fruit and vegetable diets while others put more emphasis on protein. However, I've never seen one that uses studies on pesticides in fruits and vegetables to eliminate the fruits and vegetables which have the largest number of chemical residues. Some of these so-called beneficial diets could be harmful because of the carcinogenic effect and the effect of interruption to the immune, endocrine and nervous system and the effect on brain function. It seems odd to me that a diet prescribed for a cancer patient, for example, doesn't usually consider the level of average pesticide contamination. Many pesticides are classed as environmental estrogen's and mimic the effect of estrogen's or androgens.
The correct balance of all hormones is necessary for good health. Pesticides that are estrogen or androgen mimicking chemicals can interrupt your natural hormone production. Both too little and too much of any one hormone can create health problems and can effect our offspring for generations to come. Vegetarian diets, high in pesticides actually may create or magnify the health and behavioral problems they are designed to solve. Literature suggests that wildlife exposed to endocrine interrupting chemicals in their diet and environment experience alteration in sexual behavior and abnormalities in genital development. SOURCE: From the work session on chemically induced alteration in sexual development: The Wildlife/Human Connection. Wingspread Conference, Racine, Wisconsin, July 1991. Also, many foods contain naturally high levels of estrogen. For example, 31Ú2-oz. soybean oil has 1,680,000 part per billion of estrogen while a burger made from our beef has less than 2 parts per billion of estrogen. Source: Dr. Harlin Richie, University of Michigan.
What can we do? Most of us can't become experts in all the things we need to do to keep healthy. As a result, we need to rely on advice from someone we that we trust. That source of information must look at the "big picture." It sounds complicated but really it boils down to just a few steps.
- Learn about nutrition.
- Apply that knowledge in every meal and every snack every day.
- Balance your protein, carbohydrate and fat calories about equally. Several eating programs have been described. These can be found at the websites and books listed on our Resource Page. No one diet fits all people. Find one that works for you.
- Learn about the purity of the food you eat, and the supplements and medications you take. Maverick Ranch can help you with some of this. We can send you information from a 10-year study done by the U.S. government on 234 foods that were tested for pesticides.
AT MAVERICK RANCH, OUR MISSION IS TO PRESENT YOU WITH DOCUMENTED FACTS THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM IN ORDER FOR YOU TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION WHILE LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE ---
YOUR HEALTH
YOUR EATING PLEASURE
YOUR LONGEVITY
AT MAVERICK RANCH, WE BELIEVE THAT OUR BEEF IS AMONG THE FOODS THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER FOR HEALTH, PLEASURE AND LONGEVITY FOR YOURSELF AND GENERATIONS TO COME.
This section will summarize the facts that we believe to be true on the issues that should effect your diet and health as it pertains to red meat, particularly in meats.
- Roy Moore
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