Quote:
Pastured cattle are healthier than those fed a grain-based diet. Cows are ruminants, they are designed to eat grasses. I have no doubt the same would apply to chickens, or any other animal - they are at their optimal health when allowed to eat diets their bodies are designed to eat.
From an article on the EatWild website: http://www.eatwild.com/foodsafety.html
Work conducted at Cornell University by Russell and Diez-Gonzalez in the late 1990s showed that cattle that were fed hay had far fewer E. coli than when they were fed a standard feedlot diet based on grain. In addition, the two researchers conducted a test tube study showing that E. coli from grass-fed cattle is more likely to be killed by the natural acidity of our digestive tract and therefore might be less likely to survive and make us ill.
The reason for the greater persistence of E. coli from grain-fed cattle, the researchers speculated, is that feeding grain to cattle makes their digestive tracts abnormally acidic. Over time, the E. coli in their systems become acclimated to this acid environment. When we ingest them, a high percentage will survive the acid shock of our digestive juices. By contrast, few E. coli from grass-fed cattle will survive because they have not become acid-resistant.
Thanks for clearing that up for me!
Pastured cattle are healthier than those fed a grain-based diet. Cows are ruminants, they are designed to eat grasses. I have no doubt the same would apply to chickens, or any other animal - they are at their optimal health when allowed to eat diets their bodies are designed to eat.
From an article on the EatWild website: http://www.eatwild.com/foodsafety.html
Work conducted at Cornell University by Russell and Diez-Gonzalez in the late 1990s showed that cattle that were fed hay had far fewer E. coli than when they were fed a standard feedlot diet based on grain. In addition, the two researchers conducted a test tube study showing that E. coli from grass-fed cattle is more likely to be killed by the natural acidity of our digestive tract and therefore might be less likely to survive and make us ill.
The reason for the greater persistence of E. coli from grain-fed cattle, the researchers speculated, is that feeding grain to cattle makes their digestive tracts abnormally acidic. Over time, the E. coli in their systems become acclimated to this acid environment. When we ingest them, a high percentage will survive the acid shock of our digestive juices. By contrast, few E. coli from grass-fed cattle will survive because they have not become acid-resistant.
Thanks for clearing that up for me!
