entire body. These artificial products of modern agriculture
are overweight and sick. Their muscles are frequently
infiltrated with fat, which we call marbling, a trait that
improves flavor but makes the cattle insulin-resistant and
unhealthy, just like humans. Because feedlot-raised
animals are exclusively fed grains (corn and sorghum) in
the last half of their lives, their meat is concentrated with
omega 6 fatty acids at the expense of health-promoting
omega 3 fatty acids.
(^) The bottom line is that the nutritional characteristics of
feedlot-produced meat are generally inferior to those of
meat from grass-fed or free-ranging animals. However, as
was the case in my first book, I still believe that some, but
not all, of these meats can be a healthy part of the Paleo
Diet, particularly if you try to obtain the leaner cuts and eat
fatty fish like salmon a few times a week. The table below
shows the differences in total fat and protein content
between lean and fatty cuts of meat.
What’s Wrong with Processed Meats?
In the first edition of The Paleo Diet, I was steadfast in my
advice that you should steer clear of fatty processed meats
like bologna, bacon, hot dogs, lunch meat, salami, and
sausage. That message still holds true, and you can see
from the table that processed meats are more like fat
disguised as meat. Processed meats are synthetic
mixtures of meat and fat; they are artificially combined at
the meatpacker or butcher’s whim with no consideration for
the actual fatty acid profile of the wild animals our Stone
Age ancestors ate. Besides their unnatural fatty acid
compositions (high in omega 6 fatty acids, low in omega 3
fatty acids, and high in saturated fatty acids), fatty
processed meats contain preservatives called nitrites and
nitrates, which are converted into powerful cancer-causing