Meat, eggs, and dairy products from pastured animals are ideal for your health. Compared with commercial products, they offer you more "good" fats, and fewer "bad" fats. They are richer in antioxidants; including vitamins E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. Furthermore, they do not contain traces of added hormones, antibiotics or other drugs.

Specifically, there are a number of nutritional differences between the meat of pasture-raised and feedlot-raised animals. To begin with, meat from grass-fed cattle, sheep, and bison is lower in total fat. If the meat is very lean, it can have one third as much fat as a similar cut from a grain-fed animal.

In fact, as you can see by the graph below, grass-fed beef can have the same amount of fat as skinless chicken breast, wild deer, or elk. Research shows that lean beef actually lowers "bad" LDL cholesterol levels.

Because meat from grass-fed animals is lower in fat than meat from grain-fed animals, it is also lower in calories. (Fat has 9 calories per gram, compared with only 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates. The greater the fat content, the greater the number of calories.) As an example, a 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished steer can have 100 fewer calories than a 6-ounce steak from a grain-fed steer.

If we eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to lean grass-fed beef will save us 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any willpower or change in eating habits. If everything else in our diet remains constant, we could lose about six pounds a year. Nutritionists believe that if all Americans switched to grass-fed meat, our national epidemic of obesity might diminish.

Then there’s the Extra Omega-3s. Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain-fed animals. Omega-3s are called "good fats" because they play a vital role in every cell and system in the body. For example, of all the fats, they are the most heart-friendly. People who have ample amounts of omega-3s in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat. Remarkably, they are 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack.

Omega-3s are essential for our brain as well. People with a diet rich in omega-3s are less likely to suffer from depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder (hyperactivity), or Alzheimer's disease.

Convinced? I sure am. But the one downside that I do struggle with is the cost—grass-fed and range-free beef does cost more. But I’ve reconciled that by simply planning fewer meat dishes—we’re eating more grains and veggie dishes and the meat dishes we do have are power-packed with nutrition. The budget is handling this adjustment just fine.

So if this is something that interests you, where do you start? You can find a farm near you in the Eatwild Directory of Pasture-Based Farms:

EatWild.com. Eatwild's Directory of Farms lists more than 1,300 pasture-based farms, with more farms being added each week. It is the most comprehensive source for grass-fed meat and dairy products in the United States and Canada. Producers listed on Eatwild certify that they meet our exacting criteria, assuring that their animals and the land are well-treated, that their products are exceptionally high in nutrition and free of antibiotics and added hormones.

Products include: Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, Goat, Elk, Venison, Yak, Chickens, Ducks, Rabbits, Turkeys, Eggs, Milk, Cheeses, Produce, Nuts, Berries, Wild-Caught Salmon and more!

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