Bison

[Guest guest]

Tamara Tornado wrote:

>I like bison. I've been told that because it's low fat, it has to be

>ccoked with less heat for a shorter cooking time than beef.

>

>I have had much trouble buying ground meat from organic suppliers, in

>that they tend to add way too much gristle into the ground meat. I HATE

>gristle! I've decided not to buy ground meat any more, maybe I'll get

>my own meat grinder....

>

> - T

I don't know what part of the country you live in but Kosher butchers have

superior meat and the preparation is of a very high standard in cleanliness,

etc. They do not put garbage in the ground beef. The cut the fat and gristle

off and throw it away. :-)

Also there is some grass-fed organic beef for sale on the internet. I don't

have the URL handy and I have an early medial appointment, but I will try to

remember to look. They will ship in dry ice and no more expensive than the

stores and it is guaranteed. (remind me if I forget as I am way over-tired)

I have great Kosher deli just 5 minutes away, but when I move to Flagstaff, I

plan to order my beef online.

Cheers, Cat

^. .^ ~

" There are many paths to enlightenment. Be sure to take one with a heart. "

~ Lao Tzu ~

[Guest guest]

DNA sheds light on an American die-off

Bison study could exonerate hunters in extinction mystery

AMNH

Bison and pronghorn antelope graze together in Wyoming, in this

diorama created by for the American Museum of

Natural History. The bison are descendants of Beringian bison that

almost went extinct more than 10,000 years ago.

By B. Kane

Science

Updated: 2:31 p.m. ET Nov. 25, 2004

WASHINGTON - Ancient bison DNA may help explain a longstanding mystery

of North American wildlife: why mammoths, North American lions,

short-faced bears and many other large mammals disappeared about

10,000 years ago.

The authors of a new study show that bison populations in present-day

Siberia, Alaska and the Yukon transitioned from boom to bust about

37,000 years ago. The bison population drop began well before large

numbers of humans lived in the New World, and this timing suggests

that climate and environmental change — not human hunting pressure —

drove bison to near-extinction on the landmass known as Beringia.

Placing the start of ancient bison declines before large numbers of

humans lived in the area calls into question the oft-cited idea that

hunters prompted the high-profile extinctions of mammoths and many

other large mammals.

The research appears in Friday's issue of the journal Science,

published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

`Cockroaches of the Pleistocene'

" Bison are the cockroaches of the Pleistocene, " said Science author

Duane Froese of the University of Alberta. The Pleistocene epoch

spanned from 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago. Ancient bison are

cockroaches in the sense that their fossilized remains are extremely

common and widespread, said Beth Shapiro of Oxford University, lead

author of the Science study.

Shapiro and colleagues sampled DNA from about 350 of these fossilized

bison bones and reconstructed ancient bison history based on changes

in genetic diversity.

Oxford University

A researcher extracts mitochondrial DNA from a bison bone. The skull

is a good source for ancient DNA.

This history provides the first information on when bison populations

transitioned from exponential expansion to rapid decline. The timing

of this turning point agrees with recent research pointing to local

extinctions of brown bears and wild horses in Alaska around 35,000

years ago. Together, these findings support the possibility of a

larger-scale environmental change affecting populations of large

mammals and possibly triggering their downfall.

The start of the bison population crash coincided with the warmest

years between the two most recent periods of rapid glacier expansion.

The period was marked by reductions in tundra grasslands — with warmer

temperatures, forests marched northward and invaded grasslands. This

warm period was followed by cold, dry conditions that accompanied the

glaciers that moved across much of North America. The authors suggest

that some component of these ecological changes may have caused the

widespread bison decline across Beringia.

Many of the other super-sized mammal species disappeared more than

25,000 years after the start of the bison decline. Differences in how

individual species responded to environmental stress may help explain

the staggered timing of the extinctions, the authors say. Shapiro

added that human hunters could have exterminated species that were

already weakened by climatic and environmental changes.

The smell of bison DNA

The mitochondrial DNA sequences used by the researchers are

best-preserved in dense, heavy bones, such as the base of the skull

and the longest leg bone, Shapiro said.

If the insides of a freshly drilled fossil bone smells " a bit like

burned hair, " the bone probably contains the well-preserved DNA

necessary for tracking changes in bison genetic diversity.

" This technique shows the genetic effects of environmental change and

climate change, " said Science author Alan of Oxford University.

For the bison, the " genetic effect " was a dramatic decline in genetic

diversity that accompanied a crash in bison numbers. While bison

rebounded, the " genetic effects " for other charismatic species may

have been more severe.

Rewriting bison history

The North American bison alive today are related to the ancient bison

of Beringia, but there is disagreement in the details of the familial

connection. In contrast to previous assertions, the Science authors

report that today's North American bison are the descendants of bison

that were living south of the glaciers that formed across much of

North America about 20,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age.

In the past, scientists have argued that today's bison are the

descendants of populations that weathered the last ice sheet expansion

north of the glaciers and moved south after the two major glaciers

began to retreat.

The genetic history also provides new insights into the prolific, yet

confusing and contradictory, classifications of Beringian bison. The

new DNA analysis shows that ancient bison with big horns and big heads

are not all grouped together in one small area of the family tree. The

fact that bison with similar horns and skulls are scattered throughout

the bison lineage suggests that food and environment — and not

strictly genetics — determines these characteristics. It also

highlights the possibility that ancient bison, and perhaps other

species, need to be re-categorized after incorporating genetic

information into their family trees.

In this way, the DNA history of ancient bison could also have

significant implications for other parts the fossil record, said.

© 2004 American Association for the Advancement of Science

[Guest guest]

Someone was asking the question about Bison meat . . .

http://www.vitaletherapeutics.org/vtlbison.htm

Even though bison has less protein than beef in this comparison, bison has

slightly more L- tryptophan, and far more L- lysine, cystine, arginine, and

glycine than beef. All of these have their respective health benefits if

properly supported by other nutrients. While soy ferments have been touted

to have health benefits, the same can't be said for soy protein isolates

after it has been subjected to the high degree of processing at high

temperatures and in carcinogenic stainless steel equipment. This is not a

hard choice for good health. Significantly, bison has half-again as much

L-cystine as beef, even when beef is cooked by the method optimal for

nutrition.

Properly cooked, bison has more vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, folate, and E

than beef. These nutrients support the monoxygenase receptor for vitalethine

and help to rid the body of toxic L-homocysteine. Although the B12 is

somewhat less than in beef, it should be noted that bison being a far richer

source of L-cystine which means that lhere is less need for converting

L-methionine to L-cystine through toxic L- homocysteine, a process that

otherwise is heavily dependent upon vitamin B12. One should never microwave

red meat or brewers' yeast, since microwaves destroy vitamin B12 and may

liberate carcinogenic cobalt into the food, a dual liability..

Braised, range-fed bison is far richer than feedlot beef in many key

nutrients. Bison have interesting odd- chain fatty acids, and reportedly

don't get cancer. It is possible that these odd-numbered fatty acids subtly

alter fat metabolism in ways beneficial to the monoxygenase receptor for

vitaletheine, either directly through the known interaction of this enzyme

with fatty acids, or in preventing the breakdown of PUFAs to

malondialdehyde, which is known to destroy the monooxygenase.

Alpha-linolenic acid, and the fish oils, EPA and DHA, are far higher in

bison, and the omega-3 ratio to omega-6 fatty acids is far better than

feedlot beef. Evening primrose oil is a better source of the GLA deficient

in elderly and diabetics. Phosphatidylserine (bison brain) enhances the

monooxygenase & prevents spurious oxidations..