Ethanol Makes the Skinny Brown Cow? How(Now)?
April 20th 2007 05:50
This...
The pages of Fortune magazine of all things recently offered a valuable insight into the continuing struggle between the high protein dieters and the conventional carbohydrate dieters. An explanation follows.
In the US ethanol fever is crescendoing. The federal government has put its imprimatur on this alternative fuel.Ethanol plants are springing up here and there and all indications are that the corn crop in the Midwest will be huge this year.
makes them fat.How about you?
This larger corn crop isn't all good news though. Beef farmers are in a tizzy. They will never be able to make a profit if demand for corn to make ethanol drives up its price. They will be paying more for corn and the price of their end product may not rise enough to compensate them. The consumer is already about to be hit with higher prices for all kinds of products made from grain and beef will be the kind of item which is likely to be cut out.
Enter distillers. They use corn in the distilling process, essentially stripping the carbohydrated portion of the corn from the rest and using it in their products. This process leaves a grain residue that can be fed to cattle and is, of course, cheaper than unprocessed corn. The beef farmers will be able to purchase this alternative grain product, feed their livestock, and keep prices low. Problem solved? No.
When cattle are fed the residue of the distilling process they do not grow fat in the same way that they do when they dine on pure corn. The meat of such cattle is not marbled with fat like the average diner has come to appreciate. It is leaner and the taste is thereby less satisfying to many. The farmer will produce a meat that will not be considered optimum and will not merit the highest grade and price.
What is it about distiller remnants that makes the cow leaner instead of fatter? It has a higher protein content. That means that pound for pound it produces significantly fewer calories and has a different effect on the bovine body. It simple does not produce the desired quantity of fat.... That's correct: the cows that eat higher protein diets don't get as fat as those that get undoctored, high carbohydrate corn.
You are probably able to write my conclusion for yourself: You are enough like a cow that the effect of eating higher protein diets will be about the same for you. There is practically no way that you can match the caloric quantity of a carbohydrate meal with a protein one. You will inevitably eat less calories and form less body fat, if you turn to high protein meals. This is not to mention the effect that high carbohydrate foods have on your insular system, which turns carbohydrates into fat with ease.
If you would like another perspective on the diet wisdom of cattle, read my post"My Dad, Farmer and Diet Guru". You will find it in the November archives. Your servant, as always.
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