Evolution of Animal Diets: Impact on Nutritional Profiles from wild animals to Industrialized Meat
The transition of animals’ diets from the wild to industrialized settings has significantly altered their nutritional profiles, impacting the levels of vitamins, minerals, and the omega-6 to
omega-3 fatty acid ratio.
Wild Animals:
In their natural habitats, wild animals have diets that are diverse and reflective of their ecological niches. They consume a wide range of foods, including grasses, leaves, fruits, insects, and other animals, providing them with a broad spectrum of nutrients. This is their natural diet that they have been eating since the dawn of time and gives them all the minerals, vitamins, and necessary components for their health. They live in the natural world with plenty of sunshine.
Industrialized Meat Products:
With the rise of industrialized meat production, their diets are altered to a non-natural diet and with their confinement and feed times alters their natural circadian rhythms. In intensive farming systems, animals are typically raised in confined spaces and fed high-energy diets based on grains and soy, supplemented with growth-promoting additives, antibiotics, and hormones. This is not their natural diet and most of them do not live in a natural environment getting fresh air and sunshine.
Impact on Nutritional Content:
Wild animal diets are full of diversity which is typically higher in vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. This diet produces a lean meat.
Industrialized meat is fed an unnatural diet full of carbohydrates like grain, soy, and rice with anti-biotics and hormones. These grains are grown in an industrial setting that has depleted the soil of the vitamins and minerals and have been genetically modified to withstand the herbicides and pesticides that they are subjected to. This creates meat that has less vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids and more fat that is filled with omega-6 fatty acids.
Implications for Human Health:
The changes in the nutritional content of meat have implications for human health. Diets high in omega-6 fatty acids and low inomega-3 fatty acids have been associated with inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic health conditions. Therefore, consuming meat with
imbalanced omega-6 to omega-3 ratios may have negative effects on human health. Not to mention the fact that it does not contain as much of the vitamins and minerals compared to its wild counterparts or naturally raised animals.
Conclusion:
Eating meat that if from wild animals or animals that are raised in a natural setting with a natural diet are healthier than the meat produced by industrial farming practices.