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It's not just the cracklings!The American National CattleWomen recorded another successful event as they held their 20th Annual National Beef Ambassador contest in Oklahoma City Oct. 9 to 11. Every year as I get to spend time with these young people, I am inspired and reminded again that the absolute best products produced on United States' farms and ranches are our young people. This group from top to bottom was, without a doubt in my mind, the strongest I have worked with in five years. I might mention that California and Pennsylvania have both had their ambassador named in the top five for the past three years, so it is clear that they see the benefit of this great program. Sharon Byrne from Pennsylvania and Jessica Sampson from California will both be tremendous ambassadors this year. Also selected to be on the team were Bradley Copenhaver from Virginia, Sierra Simpson of Oklahoma and Allison Grainger from Texas. It should be a stellar year for the program. This year, I stressed the importance of telling the story of beef that most people have no clue about. The two things that I spent most of my time sharing with these young people were the importance of cattle grazing to planet health and the importance of fat in our diet. Yes, we have allowed the medical community to incorrectly convince our society that all fat is bad. Low fat, no fat, stay away from animal fat and guess what the result is: an obese nation that is deficient in several essential nutrients. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it will double its recommended minimum intake of vitamin D for infants, children and teens from 200 international units (IU) to 400 IU per day. The move comes as doctors increasingly raise concerns that children, particularly breast-fed infants, do not get enough of the vitamin, which not only promotes calcium absorption and bone health but may also stave off diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. Earlier this year, researchers at Childrens Hospital in Boston found that 40 percent of 380 otherwise healthy babies and toddlers had "suboptimal" exposure to vitamin D. Even more worrisome was that breast-fed newborns were 10 times more likely to be deficient than those who were fed with baby formula, which is fortified with a large dose of vitamin D, suggesting that their mothers are also deficient in vitamin D. So what is going on that even breast-fed babies have such an inadequate amount of vitamin D? Of course, our pill happy medical community recommends taking a supplement instead of seeking vitamin D-rich foods. First of all, just one glass of whole milk supplies 25 percent of the daily recommend intake. Beyond that, cod liver oil has the absolute highest level of vitamin D of any food substance although I doubt many infants, toddlers or nursing mothers will be eating any level of that. Here is where it gets most interesting: Dr. John Cannell is the founder of the U.S. Vitamin D Council. Here he is describing the importance of a compound that we have been told to avoid: cholesterol. One of cholesterol's many functions in the body is to act as a precursor to vitamin D. Vitamin D can also be obtained from foods. Interestingly, foods that provide this vitamin--all of which are animal foods--tend to be high in cholesterol. Since cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol will also inhibit the synthesis of vitamin D. Since sunlight is required to turn cholesterol into vitamin D, avoiding the sun will likewise undermine our ability to synthesize vitamin D. And since vitamin D-rich foods are also rich in cholesterol, low-cholesterol diets are inherently deficient in vitamin D. Incidentally, lard is the second leading vitamin D-rich food. Could it be that for the past 30 years we have been taught to live with low fat, low cholesterol diets and it is causing an obese, nutrient deficient nation? I think it is obvious. Two weeks ago, I was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Mark Cook who has been studying animal fats extensively, particularly conjugated linoleic acids (CLA). He notes that in the past 30 years we have been encouraged to give up animal fat for vegetable fat and our consumption of these fats has tripled. More importantly, the vegetable fats are inflammatory and cause health problems that we are just now beginning to understand. Remember the Atkins diet? How many people did you know personally who went on that diet and their cholesterol levels improved? I know several. Come to think of it, how many of us still have a living relative in their 80s or 90s who is in great mental health? That would be the generation that not only grew up cooking everything in lard but actually ate lard sandwiches. Of course, it needs to be said that they didn't need to pay the gym to get exercise either. My point is quite simply that animal agriculture, and the beef industry in particular in this case, gives us much more than zinc, iron and protein. Fat is an essential nutrient along with cholesterol and they are all ingredients for healthy living. I, for one, am excited about the group of Beef Ambassadors that we have to tell that story and help get American consumers back on the right track to a healthy lifestyle. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com. 10/20/08 Date: 10/16/08
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