Buffalo Beats Beef When Choosing Healthy Meat

I love cheeseburgers, steaks, prime rib and plain old ground beef with rice. The strange part about this is that I used to be completely appalled by it. Slaughtered cows that are fed hormones and steroids, breed disease and systematically pump fat into my diet did not sound like a good idea. Besides the fact that I didn't enjoy the taste of red meat, I was completely grossed-out by the thought of eating it. I did eat chicken, eggs and seafood on occasion, but I largely led a vegetarian lifestyle. I guess I would have called myself a selective vegetarian.

My view on meat changed about 4 years ago where I became obsessed. Give me a cheeseburger and watch me lose myself in ecstasy. Okay, maybe it's not that dramatic, but seriously, for a girl that hated meat, I'm talking about drastic change. Regardless of the fact that I developed a taste for red meat, I still understood the nutritional drawbacks of having it in my diet. Thank goodness someone told me about buffalo meat!

Buffalo, more accurately named North American Bison, is an all-around healthier alternative to beef. On average, bison meat has 60 to 90 percent less fat than beef! It's also lower in calories and cholesterol but contains higher amounts of the good stuff, like iron, B vitamins, protein, amino acids and omega fatty acids. In addition to the obvious health benefits, bison is free of all antibiotics, hormones and steroids. They're naturally more resistant to disease than beef cattle and are only grass-fed.

Use bison in any recipes, just as you would beef. Be sure to follow all cooking directions, because it will cook much faster than you expect due to its low fat content. If you have trouble finding it at the store, you can always order it online.

I'm almost hesitant to share the joys of bison with everyone. The bison industry (like any other) will always be at the risk of infiltration by money-hungry, pseudo-farmers with no accountability for social responsibility. Let's hope the bison industry stays pure.

North American Bison were the main meat source for a large group of Native Americans. Forget about hot dogs and mom's apple pie. Most especially, forget about domesticated beef because bison is the original All-American (health) food.

Reprinted from DietsinReview