Why muscle meat is stressing you out

When most people choose their cuts of meat they almost always gravitate towards muscle meat such as steaks, legs and breasts, but this way of eating is not only wasteful but also harming our health. Our meat buying habits have considerably changed since just 50 years ago, many of the older generation will remember eating liver and heart as part of their regular diet. We were never meant to just eat one part of an animal and throw the rest away but thats exactly what most of us are doing when we stick to solely buying muscle meat. 

Our bodies don’t make up for the lack of amino acids, imbalance occurs and excess builds up and this elicits issues within our bodies that many don’t realise a solely muscle meat intake is causing. Returning to eating nose to tail is one part of the equation, the other is knowing what exactly is this imbalance that occurs and how you can balance every meal you eat. 

The phosphorus overload 

When our meat intake subsists solely of muscle meat our body isn’t getting the amino acids it needs for balance to occur. Amino acids such as phosphorus are often far higher in muscle meat, meaning muscle meat doesn’t have a balanced amino acid profile. Even if you eat different cuts of meat or opt for minced meat, the problem still arises that too much phosphorus is coming in without subsequent aminos to balance it out. 

When we intake too much phosphorus and do not balance it out with sufficient amino acids such as glycine, our body can actually go into a fight-or-flight stressed state. This sympathetic nervous system is turned on due to excessive phosphorus triggering specific pathways within the brain. Similarly to drinking too much water or coffee, causing the body to perceive a threat. 

Excess phosphorus can also bind to calcium pulling it out of the blood and causing hypo-calcemia which can cause neurological symptoms that feel like a panic response, including severe mood swings, high irritability, muscle spasms, a racing heart, and tingling in the extremities. Which is why Dr Ray Peat emphasised the calcium to phosphorus ratio and balancing amino acid intake. 

In addition to this, excessive intake of phosphorus can also cause hypertension and heart strain. So how exactly to do you keep intake balanced while enjoying a juicy ribeye steak? Read on to find out.

The disappearance of amino acid balanced foods 

Before we get into how to balance your intake firstly we need to understand the disappearance of a balanced amino acid diet. Nose to tail eating was how humans ate and were able to survive before we lost sight of eating the whole animal. Over time people realised  they  didn’t have to eat all parts of the animal to stay alive, instead they could just buy steak and leave the rest to be turned into dog food, but this wastefulness came at the expense of our health. 

Organs are naturally balanced in amino acids, along with bone broth and other lesser eaten parts of animals. Most of our grandparents will remember eating organs such as liver, heart, kidney as part of their weekly meat intake but this has now almost completely been lost in younger generations who, if they are going to eat meat will choose steak or chicken breast, missing out on key amino acids and nutrients that their grandparents thrived upon. 

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t eat meat muscle meat, since eating nose to tail encourages you do just that, but it means changing up your source of meat, including organs, bone broth and other lesser known cuts that are rarely bought in the modern age. 

How to balance every meal 

So if you are looking forward to a juicy ribeye steak how do you stop it from stressing you out? Simply by combining it with a cup of bone broth which will help balance the amino acid profile. Since bone broth is rich in glycine and other key aminos that your beautiful steak is missing. 

Combining the above with a diet rich in calcium from high quality dairy as well regularly eating organs will help you keep your body in that parasympathetic rest and digest state which is key for longevity and overall health. 

Another great benefit to eating amino acid balanced parts of animals is cost saving. Bone broth and organs are still protein dense and of course give a vast array of nutrients but often at a far cheaper cost than steaks or other expensive muscle meat cuts. 

Balancing aminos is natural 

As mentioned previously, eating nose to tail is how our ancestors survived, they wouldn’t waste anything and this helped both their health and the environment. 

Animals and native tribes still understand this well, with them prizing the organs and making sure these are eaten first. If you aren’t ready to try fresh organs, try drinking bone broth or adding it to your rice.

There is more to meat than simply protein. Chasing higher protein numbers without balancing aminos can quickly lead to a stressed out body despite the individual thinking that they are eating well. Prioritise the cuts that are balanced and enjoy muscle meat as part of this balanced intake. 

Summary 

We are what we eat and we cannot simply be a blob of muscle. Our bodies cannot make up for a lack of nutrients or amino acids and this can lead to rising cortisol levels and illness.

 A simple change to eating nose to tail cannot only help you feel less stressed but also help you regain so much nutrients that you are currently losing out on. It is unnatural to just eat one part of an animal, so let’s return to what nature intended, using up the whole animal.