10 Things Your Butcher Won't Tell You

There are plenty of good reasons to avoid processed meats in a grocery store -- consider that spray-on virus that allegedly keeps them "safe" -- but the overriding theme behind the list is this: Where your meat ultimately comes from and how it's cooked makes all the difference in the world to your health.

Before you take your next bite of commercial steak or chicken, consider all the potential problems that come with them.

The key is to eat the right type of meat and to cook it properly. It would be best to avoid most commercial meats whenever possible as these usually come from grain-fed cattle with less than optimal fat content (low CLA) that are chock full of hormones, antibiotics and preservatives. If you haven't read about cattle factory farming I would strongly encourage you to do so.

Another extremely important -- and often overlooked -- factor to consider is the way the meat is cooked. Certain cooking methods, like charbroiling or barbecuing, can actually create dangerous substances in your food called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which are potent cancer-causing agents.

Fortunately, you can minimize the formation of these substances when cooking by adding vitamin E, cherries or blueberries to the meat.

Another way to avoid them is to simply minimally cook your meat, or not cook it at all. There are a number of people who actually thrive on this type of meat preparation, espeically protein nutritional types. We have enormous success with some of our sickest patients who are protein types by switching them to raw meats.

A partial compromise would be searing the meat on the outside and leaving it uncooked for the most part on the inside. Many people find this approach more palatable. Another cooking alternative would be to use very low heat, around 200 degrees. This will take much longer to cook the meat but it will likely cause far less health damage.

Of course, it need not be said that you always want to avoid using any microwave ovens.

If you want to obtain the nutritional benefits from red meat without fearing that your health will suffer, it's imperative to seek out sources of healthy meat. This can be costly so you will always want to seek out a local farmer that can sell you the meat, as the shipping can be more costly than the meat.

But no matter where you find it, I highly recommend that you buy grass-fed meat in lieu of the factory-farmed meat found in most supermarkets.  Remember, exclusively grass-fed meat is better than organic grain-fed meat every time. The health benefits are well worth the extra effort to find it (or the extra price you may pay).

On Vital Votes, Dr. Gene Weber from Yakima, Washington adds: