Thank you so much for your post. We love seeing people get involved with healthy all-natural eating. You are correct that corn is a type of grass. But it’s also a grain. When we talked about grass in the article we were referring to the actual green stuff and we were referring to corn as a grain. We typically do not post too much scientific stuff because it can be boring for the average reader, but we are always excited to share when we have the chance. We hope this research helps anyone with more questions.

We do believe cows get sick on corn because they were never meant to eat corn. It has only been in the last 50-60 years that corn has been the main food source of cattle. We can thank federal subsidies and the huge surplus of corn in this country. (At today’s rates it actually costs a farmer more to grow corn than to sell it.) A cow gets sick on corn because their digestion system cannot take the grains. Michael Pollard, a writer for the NY Times, conducted extensive research in 2002 that showed:

“Perhaps the most serious thing that can go wrong with a ruminant [an animal that chews on its cud] on corn is feedlot bloat. The rumen is always producing copious amounts of gas, which is normally expelled by belching during rumination. But when the diet contains too much starch and too little roughage, rumination all but stops, and a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal’s lungs. Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal’s esophagus), the cow suffocates.

A corn diet can also give a cow acidosis. Unlike that in our own highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of a rumen is neutral. Corn makes it unnaturally acidic, however, causing a kind of bovine heartburn, which in some cases can kill the animal but usually just makes it sick. Acidotic animals go off their feed, pant and salivate excessively, paw at their bellies and eat dirt. The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver disease and a general weakening of the immune system that leaves the animal vulnerable to everything from pneumonia to feedlot polio.”

So because of these health risks antibiotics must be used. By definition, according to the Oxford University Press, an antibiotic is a chemotherapeutic agent with activity against microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi or protozoa. So antibiotics are used to kill the bad stuff. It’s why doctors use them to help sick people get better.

Here are the typical antibiotics used in feed lot cows:
Rumensin – inhibits gas production in the rumen which prevents bloating.
Tylosin – reduces liver infection

A Colorado State University study showed not only higher Omega 3’s and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) but it also showed 4 times the amount of Vitamin E in grass-fed verses grain-fed.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association showed a depletion of Beta Carotene to almost 0 in grain-fed cattle by day 34 on a grain diet.

This comment has already gotten pretty long so we haven’t really gotten into Omega 3’s and 6’s but in a nutshell the problem with the Standard American Diet is way too much Omega 6’s compared to Omega 3’s. The ratio is what is vital.

Lastly, I would encourage you to check out the documentary, “King Corn”. You can find it at your local movie rental store. It clearly explains the problem with corn in our society today.

We welcome comments and love it when we can talk more nutrition science.

TMD

Love you all:)