First Light’s beef and venison are raised on pastures, eat nothing but grass like nature intended, are Certified Humane, and consistently achieve astounding Omega 3:6 ratios. So, in short – YES, of course First Light’s meat fits into a Ketogenic, Paleo or Whole 30 Diet. Frankly, First Light’s meat fits into any healthy diet.
In the last year, we have received innumerable emails from our members about three particular diets – Ketogenic Diet, Paleo Diet, and Whole 30 Diet. Let’s learn a bit about each of the diets to understand their goals and how First Light fits in:
The Ketogenic Diet
The Ketogenic diet, also known as the “Keto” diet, is a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet. It works by shifting the body’s metabolism away from burning glucose for fuel (which comes from eating carbohydrates and sugars) to burning fat (which comes from eating fat). The burning of fat produces “ketones” (hence the name of the diet), and the nutritional term for when your body is in a state of producing ketones is “ketosis”. The Keto Diet looks like this:
Yes, that much fat! Let’s go through the reasoning, and explain a bit of the wonder of the human body
When you eat carbohydrates, your body produces glucose and insulin. Glucose is used by your body as the main source of energy. At the same time, your body secretes insulin to regulate glucose levels in the blood and help your body’s cells absorb the glucose. But, when your cells don’t need the energy from the glucose immediately, they convert it into fat for long-term storage.
While some whole food healthy carbohydrates of course contain fibre and nutrients, our modern diet often includes too much of them, and many are highly processed and contain little nutritional value. The result is often weight gain. Now, if instead we reduce the amount of glucose we ingest (via carbohydrates or sugar), what does our body use as fuel instead? Fat.
Our liver can take fat and select amino acids and turn them into ketones. Ketones are used first and foremost to feed our brains, and secondarily to give our bodies’ cells the energy they need to function. A common misconception is that our body, especially our brain, needs glucose. Although glucose is known to be the primary source of energy, it is nowhere near as efficient as ketones, especially for the brain. The production of ketones is a human evolutionary advantage; our brain can function using glucose and ketones. Some other larger-brained animals have developed this advantage as well, but none do it as well as humans.
One of the most important keys to a successful Keto Diet is absorbing healthy, clean fat. First Light’s 100% Grass Fed beef and venison, raised on healthy pastures, never given antibiotics or hormones, are perfect for those looking to try the Keto Diet. To learn more about low carbohydrate diets, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, by Jeff S. Volek and Stephen D. Phinney as well as books by Dr. Josh Axe are excellent resources.
The Paleo Diet
Although one can technically eat both a paleo and ketogenic diet together, they do differ. The goal of the paleo diet is to return to a way of eating that’s more like our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic era (3 million to 10,000 years ago). The diet’s reasoning is that the human body is genetically mismatched to the modern diet that emerged with farming practices that established dairy, grains and legumes as staples in today’s diet. In other words, our bodies have not had sufficient time to evolve to eating today’s common diet and this mismatch is a contributing factor to the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and heart disease today.
Like the Keto Diet, the Paleo Diet is big on meat. And like the Keto Diet, the key is to consume clean meat. First Light’s 100% Grass Fed Beef and Venison are ideal examples of the type of meat you should be consuming if you’re following a Paleo Diet. In addition to eating clean meat, the Paleo Diet includes eating fish, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. Unlike the Keto Diet, the Paleo Diet includes eating things like sweet potatoes, squares, and sweeter fruits, while the Keto Diet avoids these types of foods because of the carbohydrate (or sugar) content.
For more information on the Paleo Diet, we found The Ultimate Paleo Guide website to be an excellent resource.
The Whole30 Diet
The Whole30 Diet was originally invented by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig, and has gained somewhat of a cult following. Their book It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways is the first source of information, although you will find information on this diet all over the internet.
The essence of the Whole30 Diet is to remove all of the potentially inflammatory foods and beverages in your diet. Eliminate sugar, sweeteners, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods and beverages, soy, baked goods, and junk foods. Instead, your diet consists of clean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and fats. The Whole30 diet is, in summary, a more restrictive diet compared to the Paleo Diet.
Like the Keto and Paleo Diets, First Light’s 100% Grass-Fed Pasture-Raised meats play an integral role in the diet.
What Diet is best for you?
To be honest, the word “diet” gives us the heebie jeebies. We hear from many of our members following the above three diets who feel fantastic. But everyone is different. We are not proponents of any particular diet. Instead, we are proponents of raising beef and venison the way nature intended – on healthy pastures. The result is healthy soil, feeding healthy animals, producing healthy meat.