Conventional meat, should we go lean? (Thomas Delauer)

(Randy) #1

I watch a lot of Thomas Delauer videos, and have seen him often say that if you can’t afford grass fed beef, pastured chicken etc, he recommends eating lean versions of conventional meats and adding healthy fats like grass fed butter, ghee, coconut oil and olive oil etc.

And while the truly healthy fats are more expensive than conventional, the amount that you would add to each meal would still make it more affordable than buying the high end meats.

I’ve eaten a lot of chicken thighs, leg quarters with the skin on, high fat ground beef and pork on my keto journey. I would really like opinions of folks here on this idea as a way to affordably improve the quality of dietary fats that is the majority of calories in the keto WOE.

I’m a firm believer in “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”. And this may be a keto “hack” woth discussing.

Opinions?

(charlie3) #2

My principle sources of protein are meat and eggs. My protein target lately is 1 gram per pound of body weight, certainly more than I “need” most days but that’s the target for now. I buy ground beef once a week at a butcher shop. Instead of the usual 80 lean I request 70%, which they can create on the spot very quickly. Then I use a fry pan for cooking so I can capture and consume all the fat.

I prefer to listen to people talking about the same issues as Delauer who who are reporting their own clinical experience or research and/or have acedemic credentials related to their topics.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

This is an intriguing concept that I have never considered.

I often eat pork loins (quite lean) cooked sousvide and then blackened Cajun style in some coconut oil which I pour over the finished chop.

(charlie3) #4

I’m a bachelor, living alone, still working, time is precious. Typically I’ll buy 5-10 lbs of ground chuck, 70% lean, at a quality market. I got a burger press from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HWHJUB4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I’ll turn all the beef into 5 oz patties and store in plastic containers between peices of wax paper or freezer paper, freeze some, keep the rest refrigerated for immediate use. This is a time saver on work days. I see meat as a hyper palitable way to get fat so make sure the fat is there.

#5

I came across a similar post on reddit and found it very interesting…:thinking: And now I just remembered what I wanted to see again, it’s stuck somewhere in the back of my head :wink: there’s an episode with that ruminants man (i forget his name, a wonderfully sweet man) and Dr.Berry and, if I remember correctly, he said we shouldn’t really worry about things like that…It’s in my to-watch list today :slight_smile:

(Todd Allen) #6

Seems like a reasonable strategy.

I suppose it depends on ones circumstances. I’ve found local sources for affordable high quality offal such as organic pastured chicken livers for $3.50/lb. I get pastured ground pork and sugar-free bacon for $4/lb and 55% lean grass fed ground beef for $4.50/lb. All of which are less than what I pay for Kerrygold butter and decent quality extra virgin olive oil. I cook in ways that minimize waste, I rarely drain fat off and when I do it is to make another dish using the fat. Cheaper conventional meats are easy to find but what I’ve been saving in health care more than covers what I spend on food.

(Carl Keller) #7

I’ve seen this advice too. I believe he says that commerical animal fats are likely to store all the crap they were injected with and fed and it does make sense. As much as I would love to just buy grass fed, free range meats, it’s not in my finances to do so exclusively.

So while I may not be eating as impeccably as possible, I am eating 10x better than I was eating before.

#8

I’ll often do this. I quite like chicken breast for example so I’ll fatten it up with homemade mayo. I don’t avoid fattier cuts altogether but I do mix it up. I believe it’s probably a better approach with meats that are naturally higher in Omega 6s.

(Robert C) #9

This sounds like a good idea but I wouldn’t know how to do it.
A 100 gram serving of “sirloin tip side steak” is very lean with 5.4 grams of fat.
A 100 gram serving of Ribeye is fatty with 37.6 grams of fat.
I will fry all of my steaks in avocado oil and then add butter for the final browning.
As well, I top my steaks with crumbled blue cheese (to hit keto macro ratios).
I am missing 32.2 grams (of animal fat) going with the lean cut (almost 300 fat calories) but, how would I introduce any more healthy fat of any kind?
If the vegetables are already swimming in butter or EVOO, not sure how to get this in an already keto meal.

#10

My question is do you need to be adding all that fat if you’re fat adapted (and not at maintenance weight)?

(Robert C) #11

I might be an odd case but, if I want to keep myself fat adapted and I want maintenance calories 5 days a week (to sustain metabolism) with two non-eating days - yes.

I tend to think trying to lose weight on keto by reducing daily fat calories can too easily turn into calorie restriction.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

Funnily enough, when I’m watching Thomas Delauer, what he’s saying is the last thing I’m paying attention to, lol!

You are thinking, I believe, of Peter Ballerstedt, the agronomist. He’s a great guy. And I believe his point is that even grain-finished beef cattle spend most of their lives eating grass, so not to obsess about it if you can’t get completely grass-fed beef.

#13

Perv :joy:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

Yeah? So?

Besides, one should always admire beauty, wherever it is to be found.

So there!

#15

It’s all data :grin:

Touche!

#16

But instead of reducing calories, what about increasing protein to make up for the fat and calorie reduction? (btw I’m for the Bikman school of thought that I can safely increase protein without affecting ketosis etc)

(Running from stupidity) #17

Yup. He’s sensible.

I’m so onboard this train.

#18

Yes, him :slight_smile: thank you :slight_smile:

If I ever win Euro jackpot, I’m using the money to build a food-testing lab…or get elon musk to stop wasting money on hypertube and space, so many studies we need to do here :joy:

(Robert C) #19

That would be the answer “just stick with lean meats - don’t add healthy fats” which wasn’t the OP’s (or Delauer’s) suggestion.

Honestly, I have trouble hitting 75 to 80 percent fat. It is just a goal and usually just a wish that is not granted due to extra protein. So, I find that situation to be “good enough” even if I sometimes go over 1 gram per kilogram lbm.

But intentionally upping protein? Being older, I don’t want to trigger growth pathways too much to make it easy for cancer to start. I also have iron overload so have to be careful about meat generally.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #20

On the other hand, there is Prof. Bikman, who is concerned that we lose muscle tissue as we age, even as it gets harder and harder to put on more muscle at the same time. He strongly recommends 2 g/kg, especially for the elderly.