DAY 10: Animal Protein (Part #1)

Animal protein is the main type
of protein recommended on the Paleo diet.
What do beef, bison, pork, wild boar, offal, game meat, fish, seafood, poultry and eggs have in common? They all contain the delicious AND superior animal protein your body needs.
It is when our ancestors started including more animal foods in their diet that our brain started to develop in size and complexity. (1) We wouldn’t be who we are if we hadn’t started including more meat in our diet. By eating less plant foods, our gut decreased in size, allowing in return more energy for the development of our brain.
This evolution would probably not have been possible on a vegetarian diet, let alone a vegan diet.
Proteins from animal food are high-quality complete proteins and contain all the essential amino acids your body requires.
Vegetable proteins, from legumes, soy and grains, are incomplete and lack some essential amino acids.
Amino acids from protein are the building blocks necessary to build muscles, synthesize the DNA and cells of every cell in your body, nourish the cell lining of your intestines and are involved in making enzymes, hormones, proteins fighting for your immune system and proteins that transport vitamins, minerals, cholesterol, fat and other important nutrients inside your body. (1)
If some amino acids are not present in the right proportions, these functions cannot be accomplished.

Best Animal Protein Choices on the Paleo diet
Grass-fed, grass-finished, pastured, free-range… the terminology can be complicated and the different labeling regulations can make it difficult, but your best bet is to find a local farmer and/or ask your butcher where you can source high-quality meat and eggs.

7 reasons to choose pastured, grass-fed and free-range meat.  (Tomorrow's Blog)

Stay away from CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) where animals are confined in cages under unethical conditions and force-fed atrocious quantities of grains, soy and “by-product feedtuff” to make them grow and fatten up as quickly as possible so they can be butchered and sold. High productivity + low cost = more profit. Unfortunately, profit is the only driving force behind CAFOs and no considerations are given to the animals and the environment. This is why many people go vegetarian. But fortunately, CAFOs are not the only option!
You can select meat from animals that were treated humanely and ate what they were supposed to eat. Go to the farmer market or find a farm in your area. The closer you are to where your food come from, the healthier it will be. Not only for you but for the planet as well!
Remember that every time you encourage a local farmer and/or buy grass-fed, pastured meat and eggs, you are voting with your money!
Hopefully, the more demand there is for high-quality and sustainable foods, as advocated by the Paleo diet, the more widely available and affordable they will become.
Best Animal Proteins on the Paleo diet

Category		Examples	Best option*
Animals that eat grass – Herbivores and Ruminants		beef, bison or buffalo, Highland cattle, deer or venison, moose, elk or wapiti, lamb, sheep, goat, kangaroos…	Pastured, 100% grass-fed or grass-finished (ideally from a local farm; they should never be fed grains, not even during the last few months of their life)
Animals that swim	Fish	Sardines, salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sole, flounder, catfish…	Wild-caught and eco-sustainable (not farmed!.. farmed fish and seafood are given soy, corn, hormones and antibiotics; check with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch* for an up-to-date sustainable seafood guide**)
	Seafood	shrimp, scallops, oysters, crab, lobster…
	Other	Crocodile, alligator, frog, snake…
Animals that eat anything -Omnivores	Without wings	Pork, wild boar, bear	Pastured (ideally from a local farm)
	With wings - Poultry	Chicken, turkey, wild turkey, duck, quail, emu, ostrich…	Pastured, free-range poultry (chicken, turkey and other animals in these category are not vegetarians! They live healthier and are healthier for you if they have access to worms and bugs too.)
Eggs		Chicken eggs, duck eggs, quail eggs, goose eggs, emu eggs, ostrich eggs…	Eggs from pastured, free-range hens (again, these animals are not vegetarians and should be able to complete their diet by foraging for live worms and bugs)

*Organic may be better than conventional alternatives, but your meat is still likely to come from grain-fed animals; **Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch; National Sustainable Seafood Guide. Monterey Bay Aquarium. January 2012. (accessed January 2012