The real story of beef, climate, and your health - Diet Doctor Podcast

You have likely heard that eating less beef will help the environment. While this is a popular stance on social media, it is overly simplistic and doesn’t consider the whole picture.
Ty Beal, PhD, joins me to discuss the importance of beef for worldwide nutrition, and Ariel Greenwood helps us better understand the role cows play in land management.
Table of contents:
0:00 Introduction to Ty Beal, PhD
2:00 The concept of eating for a healthier climate
7:54 A trade-off among improving soil quality, land use and GHG emission
14:07 What if we remove cattle from the equation?
23:10 Could animal-sourced foods play an important role in the dietary matrix?
25:52 Minimizing the risk of deforestation
30:30 Maintaining the herds size for a lower environmental impact
38:48 Ariel Greenwood
39:42 The upbringing of becoming a livestock manager
45:19 The holes in the rewilding argument
54:50 Imminent necessity of producing less beef with little environmental impact
1:02:36 The connection between ranching and deforestation
1:07:55 Ariel’s dream in a few years time
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[@i95smuggler]

Please, everybody spread the word about this channel. I'm not one to spend time on KZbin, but this channel has got me hooked

[@erniemartin6816]

My son-in-law is a cattle farmer in Kentucky. His cattle are grass fed, hay in the winter months, up to finishing. He’s not yet ready to grass finish. His highest profitability comes from managing the soil and not overgrazing. Weak, sickly, temperamental, or poor mothering skills get a cow sold at the next Auction. He’s not an environmental nut but no chemicals, no drugs for the cows, mostly grazing and minimal rolling of hay is good for the soil, good for the grass, good for the cow, and good for his business!!!

[@Carnivorenursekim]

I’m in Kentucky…can you tell me the name of the farm? I need a good source of meat- I’m carnivore but I prefer grain finished because it tastes better to me.

[@henrybird26]

Stop producing so many grains and give the land back to the cattle!

[@SunshinyDay4423]

Give the land back to the cattle? LOL! I hope you know cows aren't native to the United States.

[@yvonne3903]

And the fertiliser companies will be sad, because we won't need to buy as much.

[@yvonne3903]

And the soil will become not just more fertile but it's structure will become much better more robust and more able to withstand bad times. Poor soil will become more productive as cow poo attracts more insects which generally mix the soil.

[@lorenzosmith6960]

@@SunshinyDay4423 cows not, true, but buffalo definitely yes, millions of them!

[@SunshinyDay4423]

@@lorenzosmith6960 yes but we killed almost all of the Bison! Cause that's what we do, kill and conquer. 😳

[@wendell6020]

Where I live I’m surrounded by farmers fields on 3 sides ..they used to be regenerative farms ..now they’ve been bought out by farmers who cash crop, farmers who own thousands of acres..they are not stewards of the land ..they cut down the fence rows ( homes to numerous animals ) also planted there by past generations to stop wind erosion and soil loss ..then they burn the wood ..they are constantly tilling the fields, spraying the fields with herbicide and pesticides and now they are allowed to use pelletized human waste for fertilizer …they own huge farming equipment that fills the whole road both sides it’s so big ..they constantly run drying bins for drying grains and soya beans before being sold and have huge transports to truck to the grain dryers and then to the final grain silos for sale ..what about all of this is supposed to be better for the environment ? As someone who’s lived in the country all my life almost 60 years ..from my perspective cattle is not the problem

[@1eingram]

Does the study address the destruction of the micro biome of the soil when using sustained chemical fertilizer? And did it address the land quality when millions of buffalo roamed the great plains?

[@issaclarke3449]

Look in to the work of the Savory institute. They calculate the regenerative farming can actually reverse carbon impacts.

[@christinabrown706]

Please interview Dr Natasha Campbell McBride about the Eco farm she now has - there was no healthy soil originally - now the animals that she has has created great humus.

[@LaRoucheisright]

Big deal. Ho hum.

[@cindyzink8550]

My diet is carnivore....my body does not react well to fruits, vegetables, grains. So inflammatory for me. I have no desire to eat anything that makes me feel awful. This guy needs to understand that not all people can eat the crap of the government food pyramid and if he reduces meat then he is reducing the amount of food for people like me.

[@olleolofsson9421]

Missing discussions on what are the plant agricultur impact on the climate. What about monoculture crops? Why is all the focus on ruminants? Thankful for a response.

[@christopherellis2663]

True! Poisonous spraying and fertiliser, along with the illnesses and environmental destruction. I could live on a mountain without growing plants of any kind, unless it were to feed the deer and such.

[@magnuseriksson5547]

The industrially produced, monoculture grown annual crops are more destructive than anything else in agriculture. They emit more carbon to the atmosphere and are more environmentally destructive by far.

[@paulpladin9590]

Once again the issue is framed as emissions rather than net emissions taking into account the change in stable sum which is near zero with livestock. We can't have a good discussion as long as we do not qualify the proper metrics. The Idea that we can somehow "re-wild" the great prairie *without* large stocks of ruminant animal grazing is absurd. This is trying to re-capture a past that never existed.

[@StangspringDK]

Exactly. It appears, that everyone has forgotten the short carbon cycle. The fact that every single carbon atom that is emitted, was captured very recently from the atmosphere by the plants that the animals eat. Ruminants are carbon neutral. In fact, grazing ruminants will increase carbon content slightly in the soil, that could potentially remain there for millenia. And if grass is not eaten by an animal, it eventually dies, and releases carbon into the atmosphere. I strongly prefer that ruminants make it into nutritious meat, instead of the grass decaying.

[@wendyscott8425]

@@StangspringDK Of course, some of that grass needs to be stomped into the soil, which is what ruminants also do, where it adds carbon and enables more water (another huge greenhouse gas) to be absorbed into the soil for future plant growth and rain. Everything ruminants do helps the plants grow, and hence the soil microbiome thrives. The way the animals take only the tips of the plants (when properly managed) plus their saliva and what comes out their rear ends all feeds the soil, which helps the plants, which helps the animals on their next pass over the area.

[@StangspringDK]

@@wendyscott8425 Exactly. Most, if not all biological systems sinks some amount of carbon into the soil, and some amount of that become inactive. Tiny amounts. In millions of years, that turns into coal, oil, gas, limestone or some other carbon containing compound. Forestry involves a lot of sucking up carbon, but it also involves a similar amount of carbon release, when the wood is burned, left to rot or used in construction that is eventually torn down. So, if you cut down trees, to grow crops, you replace one carbon neutral sysem with another carbon neutral system (taking the liberty to argue, that the amount of carbon being sinked is irrelevant in regards to offsetting the CO2 released by fossil fuels). Sure, burning the forest releases carbon immediately, but that is still tiny amounts, compared to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels is after all, the end result of hundreds of millions years of carbon depositing. Forests plays a role in biodiversity, land management and can have climate regulating effects (some that warms, and some that cools), and that is a total valid argument for not clearing lands for crops or cattle, but this practise is also what feeds those, that farms in these areas. And one might argue, that it is not just the need for animal feed that leeds to this, but also the need for seed oils for biofuel and industrial applications (and the soy cakes is more or less the byproduct of thise need for oil)? Even if we stop feeding animals soy (which would be a huge step in a good direction for other reasons), the need for seed oils would result in a continuance of this practise.

[@wendyscott8425]

@@StangspringDK Well, all plants help the soil, which helps the plants, which helps the animals, which helps us and helps the planet. We can all support this process by buying our meat from regenerative ranchers and using pasture-raised animal products. The animals encourage all kinds of grass and forbs, which take CO2 out of the atmosphere and put it into the soil. Plant roots and the soil microbiome make the soil spongy so it absorbs water, another greenhouse gas no one mentions very often. Human beings can figure out what to do to fix this situation if we put our minds to it. Almost all the world's deserts used to be grasslands that fed animals and helped the planet maintain its balance. There's nothing hotter than a desert. So putting animals back on desert lands can quickly stimulate plants and soil health, absorbing tons of carbon. I hope we're on the same page here. :) BTW, I have an electric car and solar panels on my house, but I would be very discouraged if those were the only kinds of solutions we could count on. We can fix global warming and make ourselves healthier at the same time. Sounds like a plan to me.

[@carols4013]

I have to disagree that all plants help the soil. It depends how you grow them. We're still losing topsoil with the way we do the vast majority of our monocropping.

[@debramoore1428]

I would rather look at a range land of cattle, goats, and sheep than acres of vinyards, orchards, nut trees, and veggie fields. Give meat a chance.

[@samuelreiter6412]

Corn and soybean farming is monotonous in the Midwest. How does a monoculture help the environment?

[@johannas.l.brushane2518]

Just recently there was an article in The Guardian about british children of age 5 are about 5 cm shorter than similar countries in northern Europe. And NHS have about 700 admissions per year for kids suffering from rakitis and scurvy. The problem have been present and noticable at a domestic level that poorer socioeconomic status often have a negative effect but the problem has grown. They point out missing fruit and veg and oily fish but I suspect that in questionnaires they say they eat chicken meat and that may be miniscule pieces in huge chunks of that dough that often are around in a lot of chicken sold cheap both as street food and also as frozen food.

[@leroyharder4491]

A good nuanced discussion. My education is in ecology and the blanket statements about the beef industry never made sense to me, and I come from the perspective wanting to give more back to nature. I keep bees, and I try to keep them as far from intensive monocrop plant agriculture as I can. These are chemical soaked fields with very low biodiversity, leaking carbon into the atmosphere as the soils degrade. Not very good for the rest of life. A nice pasture will have much more biodiversity, have different things blooming at different times of year. A well managed pasture will accumulate carbon and get better with time. This year on my small acreage, I am starting pasture raised poultry. They will have a role in pest control, will fertilize my garden and orchard, recycle vegetable waste. As they get moved across the landscape I will follow behind and seed things to build soils, build biodiversity, provide better long term forage for the chickens, and provide better forage for bees. And of course I will fill my freezer with high quality nutritious meat. The landscapes around here are suited for beef once you get off the river bottom. We worry a bit about forest encroachment on grasslands and we are started to do burns to maintain them. In the big picture, we should be looking to give back to nature, deintensify land use, and look for ways to enhance nature even in areas of high use. We should be looking for win win situations. We need to hang on to biodiversity until human population levels begin to fall. Japan and now China are beginning to have reductions in population. Hopefully we see interesting experiments in land restoration in those countries.

[@yay-cat]

He was chatting about more circular efficient farming: it’s less polluting which has a huge impact on health (and obvs environment) So you move cows across land in a way that mimics predator chasing and then you follow with like chickens and like all of this builds soil etc which holds more water and nutrients so you get better grass and worms etc. Basically you need less fertilisers, get a healthier product (because there are more micronutrients and not just the N P K mix (nitrogen phosphorus potassium)in standard fertilisers that only focus on product size. But also less pesticides etc. So like a major factor affecting health is pollution. Sure pollution from industries, micro plastics etc, but like pollution from fertilisers and pesticides/herbicides/insecticides have huge health impacts. Like organophosphate use literally lowers IQ. Nevermind effects on inflammation etc. Also like the Carbon footprint of ammonia production (fertilisers) is staggering (like overshadows beef for sure).

[@missygee6155]

It's really a freaking crying shame that we have to have such a discussion and studies like this. It's obvious that Coke and Pepsi and Gatorade and onion rings are not better for us than beef and lamb which are some of the best sources of nutrients. We also know who does these studies, who pays for these studies Coke and Pepsi and onion ring makers. They want to grab the land and produce more of their junk food in the name of client change, such a lie! Beef and lamb are two foods that you could live off solely forever and be perfectly healthy and thriving. Beef and lamb are not only high in zinc and iron but they are high in amino acids. They are high in essential proteins and fats and plants do not have the same value in Amino acids and have little to no essential protein! You have to eat four to five times as many plants to get the same amount of amino acids such as leucine. This whole climate change and cow farts BS is such a farce and again it's just sad that we have come to the fact that we're defending what God, what nature gave us to eat, what humans have been living off of Since since the dawn of time! It's disgusting it's a lie it's extremely sad that they keep pushing this on us because they don't care about human life and they don't care about animals and they don't care about the planet all they care about is power and destroying the world so they can "build back better" and act like gods.

[@bletchdroshek5984]

You said it all. False outrage and lies to control the population

[@TerriblePerfection]

Don't lose heart. Just keep supporting your local butcher and enjoy every healthy day. Things can't be other than they are, and more are awakening every day. You are the universe. 🥰

[@joyceelmer131]

@@TerriblePerfection Those “Veggie Activists” are going around to stores ,and pouring bottles of milk all over the floors. They are lied to and probably paid to do it.

[@wendyscott8425]

Demand always influences supply. If we buy grass-fed beef and pasture-raised animal products, it not only helps tilt the markets and farms towards healthier agricultural methods that not only help the planet but help us, but regeneratively grown products TASTE fabulous!

[@nackyeads2508]

I love your interviews. Please invite Dr Zach Bush, and his understanding of agriculture, the Glyphosate destruction of microbiome in soil and people. And his work in Farmer’s Footprint.

[@jellybeanvinkler4878]

I love Zach Bush too, for his brilliant mind and ideas. But as far as I know, he is plant based only, so the keto/carnivore folks avoid him like the plague. Though I have heard him in many talks and interviews where he never mentions a specific diet. He says we need ruminates to feed the earth, but we don't have to eat them...

[@darkfieldcarnivore3928]

Good conversation!

[@artcoin9699]

Eliminating 🥩 will greatly threaten lifespan and mankind indefinitely

[@MarkVA71]

The powers that be want humanity on its knees.

[@artcoin9699]

@@MarkVA71 unfortunately many 🐑🐑🐑🐑will fall-ow

[@thalesnemo2841]

Humans are essential carnivores with absolutely no dietary requirements for any carbohydrates!

[@johnn4842]

All of this needs to be put in perspective. Eg compare the methane gas emissions from the coal and gas industries with those from animals. We can do without hydrocarbons but we can’t do without the nutritional contributions of animals - vegans and vegetarians take note!

[@atheistconservative8573]

Gee it must have been a tough go getting enough fruit and veggies 20000 years ago

[@thomashughes4859]

What I love about the Doc is that he takes the obvious and clear message of government control issues and tyranny and decides let's give them the benefit of the doubt and discuss the facts. Hats off to you, Doc! 🎩

[@johncondon4081]

Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise by telling us another lie

[@NancyEvansUSA]

What health concerns about eating meat is he referring to?

[@Philly1958]

What’s the argument on the health side against meat.

[@wednesday6127]

It takes 8 lb of grain to produce 1 lb of meat

[@yay-cat]

Oh please have a chat with Richard Perkins (Farming)

[@user-nm6fl6lz3r]

❤❤

[@vas4739]

Naaa, it’s ALWAYS on the menu!!!!

[@johnmadany9829]

Every time you mention deforestation re-emphasize tree encroachment. Metabolic syndrome is getting so out of hand that it won’t be long before the majority the population can’t even use plant products for energy. This is serious and I watch it getting worse every day real time in my clinic.

[@NancyEvansUSA]

Really difficult interview to follow

[@MrRKWRIGHT]

The good news is that all over America, roadside produce stands will soon be shuttered for the winter and scarecrows can begin a well-deserved long Winter nap - a break from having to hang there all day and night staring at vegetables. There's a certain beauty in the sight of a vegetable field gone fallow for the winter, particularly if it's one that's used for soybeans. And speaking of "stuck on stupid," Halloween, the annual sugar binge for the uninformed masses will soon be over. All of this of course signifies the coming of deer hunting season and two of our most significant meat intensive holidays. What's your choice for Thanksgiving? Some of you might find it surprising just how Carnivore intensive was the pilgrims' first Thanksgiving: - including Venison, Turkey, shellfish. Cod and Bass (unfortunately no bison). Vegetables? Well of course. In those days, as they simply didn't know any better, which no doubt contributed to their short average lifespan. But no blood glucose spiking potatoes. White potatoes, originating in South America, and their cursed sugary "cousin," i.e., sweet potatoes, from the Caribbean, had yet to infiltrate North America. Also, there would've been no cranberry sauce, as it would be another 50 years before an Englishman wrote about boiling cranberries and sugar into a “Sauce to eat with meat." God Bless America as the days grow shorter and colder and our need to eat more meat increases - even among those who won't acknowledge a basic human instinct and thus refuse to begin their KETO Carnivore journey.

[@MrRKWRIGHT]

@@wednesday6127 I don't recall mentioning anything about pumpkin pie. I was focusing on the most important part of the meal - the protein packed portions of the pilgrim's meal. So there you go. Asked and answered.

[@wednesday6127]

@@MrRKWRIGHT oh christ dick. Literal.

[@MrRKWRIGHT]

@@wednesday6127 Hmm. Sorry you didn't like that answer. Accordingly, going forward I'm muting you from being able to respond to my comments. That being said. Have a nice FRIDAY WEDNESDAY.

[@wednesday6127]

Rick's jewelers is not the most easy going you want to work with

[@rawmilkmike]

For a guy who knows so much and gives so many reasons for increasing animal foods, how can he suddenly flip-flop and say we should reduce their consumption?. 32:00

[@wednesdayschild3627]

Europe is re engineering the original aurochs, the ancestor of all cattle. Europe needs a large ruminant. The biased studies all started with veganism based on religion. The best would be less driving. Packaged foods require lots of driving and pavement. Are they counting all that driving and pavement and litter? Local unpackaged foods are best. Get rid of green lawn grass which does nothing.

[@yvonne3903]

Vegans started with a Seventh Day Adventist woman who had a vision ( she was probably mentally sick) and she convinced them to promote veganism. So they started to invest in grains and promote and profit from grain consumption.

[@Philly1958]

We could plant all the vegans.

[@thalesnemo2841]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Carnivorenursekim]

You lost me at decrease animal consumption in high income countries…. 32:03

[@Chippoka]

I don't agree in this guy's view there is a "moderate" path in this issue. Humans need meat for optimal health, not plants; therefore our lands need to accommodate it more than "tourism" or "re-wilding" ... or some notion of animal diversity some grass regions in America never had in the first place. Greenhouse gases can be reduced to greater effect by limiting private jet travel and commercial jet use, for example; not cows (etc) need for better human health; and constantly tilling the soil for massive farming efforts also releases huge amounts of C02 from the bacteria in the soil.

[@johannas.l.brushane2518]

I think it could be fair if we learned to eat more from cattle, yeah some do, but I miss seeing slices of oxtails, beeftounge etc in the ordinary grocery stores. Same with porkchops, those in the ordinary grocery stores are pale, they look like chicken for the pig have lived indoors in a small box, often they cut off bones as well as the fat. I don't know with that, cats and dogs have less tolerance/need for fat than humans so I would be surprised if it was made into pet food.Or maybe they put it in grainbased food some unfortunalety give their carnivore pets? It just seems as a lot of unnecessary waste is happening today and that because Mr Smith is picky about what he choose in the store because he's ignorant?

[@smoovem1235]

Felt like lots of interesting equivocation, and not a lot of direction here. Maybe the government can come up with a certification system for carbon neutral or carbon negative ranches. Certification would need to be done every 5 years or so, or some other useful duration. Then consumers can distinguish by the certification seal. The rest is up to others to convince people to buy meat, if they choose, by whether it bears the seal of interest. I'm strongly against trying to have the government otherwise pick winners and losers by subsidizing certain types of operations, which often have other problems to contend with. Arguably a certification system is a flavor of the same thing, but the difference is that it's consumer selection driven, assuming they trust the certification. Labels like "organic" don't really move the needle to me. I'm not convinced it's meaningfully healthier. I might be interest in paying a slight bit more for a steak that was processed in a net carbon neutral ranch.

[@ThorirLenvik]

If you let grass rot on the ground, rather than letting cattle etc eat it, you will get the same impact on the environment. About zero!

[@samuelreiter6412]

Prove it.

[@rogerheuckeroth7456]

True. All animals are part of the natural carbon cycle. Climate change is almost completely due to the burning of fossil fuels.

[@christopherellis2663]

Stakeholders 🧛‍♂️🧛‍♀️hold this stake, while I open the coffin ⚰️ It seems to me that some opinions are uninformed

[@SunshinyDay4423]

I don't think we only concentrate on cattle and other animal products when it comes to environmental concerns. It's a holistic concern. But doctor you didn't touch on one of the most important components of meat production and processing which is humane treatment of the animals. I am not on here to preach like a PETA member but it's common knowledge that we don't treat the animals we consume very good. And those that are treated humanley the end product is very costly. That's my beef... LOL! Pun intended.

[@matijagrguric6490]

How about leaving each country decide how are they going to produce their food and put significant restraints on food export import so that for example Brazil doesn't produce beef for China and let China deal with their population

[@Chippoka]

Ariel Greenwood's view is more rational in my view. As to "Climate Change" (renamed from "Global Warming")? We need to remember it mostly political misinformation not supported by authentic objective science.

[@Damudean]

Is he aware that the minimum of protein needed is not really enough for your best health and no country is eating that amount?

[@phelysarrian1814]

Is he paid by the WEF or related?

[@Eme-Kat]

Eliminate all the humans so that nature can flourish :D