WHY EAT BUFFALO MEAT?

     For starters, bison is the healthy red meat, and it is considered a poultry exchange.  Many heart patients find it hard to change their taste, and those who like red meat can again enjoy that taste by substituting bison for other meats, knowing they are lowering their fat intake at the same time.  The taste is very similar to the best beef you have ever tasted.  There is just a hint of sweetness to the meat.

     Bison meat is non-allergenic.  No one, to date, has had an allergic reaction to buffalo meat. Many people who have allergies to other meats find they can eat buffalo.  There are no low-level antibiotics, no hormones, no drug residues, and no preservatives in buffalo.

BISON HAS MORE IRON THAN BEEF

     Iron is a significant item for women.  According to the Recommended Dietary Allowances 1989 guidelines, adolescent, lactating and premenopausal women need at least 15 milligrams of iron per day.  Adding bison to your diet can help meet these recommended allowances, as bison contributes about 69% more iron to your diet than does the same serving of beef.

THE TASTE TEST - Switch to Bison

     Weight Watcher's Magazine (Oct 1985) says, "On the Weight Watchers food plan, buffalo is considered to be a veal or poultry exchange."  The National Buffalo Foundation (NBF) points out that it is even better than a poultry exchange.

     The real treat in bison is top of the line tenderness and taste.  People are rapidly choosing to switch to bison rather than fight the fat/cholesterol battle.  Bison has no gamey flavor; but rather, it tastes like red meat used to taste and "like beef wished it tasted."

     Gourmet Magazine (Mar 1999) says, "Buffalo meat not only contains fewer calories and less fat and cholesterol than beef, pork, or chicken, but it's rich in flavor without tasting gamey."

YOUR MONEY'S WORTH

     With bison you are not paying for a lot of fat that has to be trimmed or cooked out.  Many gourmet and health recipes today are calling for extra lean meat.  Ground bison is the best choice.  Ounce for ounce purchased, you will find more edible meat with bison as compared to beef.  This is especially true as bison does not cook down or shrink.

BUFFALO IS ABSOLUTELY THE HEART HEALTHY RED MEAT

     Why do so many doctors tell you not to eat Red Meat?  Buffalo meat, or Bison, was not readily available when most of these doctors took their training, so they are not familiar with this cousin to beef.  However in the search for a lean red meat, Bison was rediscovered.

     The Indians and early settlers knew how healthy Bison meat was but the near extinction of the buffalo caused them to turn to other sources of meat.  Today we are wanting to return to the perfect combination of leanness and flavor and Buffalo have come back in numbers because of this demand.

     Today, doctors all over the country are recommending bison meat as the healthy meat for you.  The Mayo Clinic was one of the first to come out with the data in their MAYO CLINIC NUTRITION LETTER Nov 1989, pg 7.

SPECIES	Fat in Grams	Calories
Beef, Broiled top loin  USDA Choice	9.4	207
Chicken, Roasted light meat without skin	4.5	173
Bison	2.42	143

Each of these facts, reported by Mayo Clinic, were for 100 gram portions (about 3.5 ounces) of cooked meat with visible fat removed.  Mayo Clinic sources were U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbooks No. 8-5, 8-10, 8-13 and 8-17. 

Ask your doctor to check with Mayo Clinic or with the U. S. Department of Agriculture if they have any question concerning these statistics.  After working with one of Indiana's leading teams of heart surgeons, Bison was immediately added to the list of meats that could be eaten by those with a cholesterol problem.

For more health information visit http://www.bisoncentral.com/bison/default.asp