The Difference Between Monogastric and Polygastric Animals

Conventional pork and chicken get fed corn, soy, and literal garbage.

Also, these animals lack the biological systems necessary to remove all of these toxins from their body.

This means that when you eat them, you’re eating all the bad stuff they consumed.

In this newsletter I’m going to review what they’re fed, the difference between monogastric and polygastric animals, and what you can do to source cleaner meats.

What Pork and Chicken Gets Fed

Conventional pork and chicken get fed TERRIBLE diets.

In this video, a maintenance technician at a pig feed facility exposed what was getting fed to pigs (the technician was fired 2 days after posting the video, no surprise there).

You can see cardboard, plastic, and other types of trash being ground up and shipped away to be fed to pigs.

This practice is called “garbage feeding” and is legal in 27 states in the US.

This facility in the video is run by Smithfield Foods, a Chinese-owned entity that's the largest pork producer in the United States.

If you have no other option, eating conventional beef is significantly better for you than pork/chicken. 

Here’s why:

Monogastric v.s. Polygastric Animals

Pork and chicken are monogastric, meaning they have a single-chambered stomach.

Ruminants like cows, goats, and sheep are polygastric, meaning they have a multi-chambered stomach.

What does this mean?

Rumens are much better at removing bad stuff from their body.

This makes their meat significantly cleaner, even with a poor diet.

Monogastric Animals Store PUFA

PUFAs, or polyunsaturated fatty acids, are fats that easily oxidize in your body.

Seed oils contain high amounts of PUFA, which is one reason why they’re bad for you.

Monogastric animals are fed PUFA-containing foods (corn and soy) and lack the gut bacteria to convert them into saturated fats.

Pork and chicken have also been bred to accumulate PUFA in their tissues because it makes them fatter with fewer calories.

This means they store the PUFA right in their fat tissue, sometimes in higher amounts than seed oils.

Ruminants on the other hand have a remarkable ability to convert PUFAs into saturated fats in their rumen.

This means that even if their diet contains high levels of PUFAs, they can easily convert them into saturated fats before being absorbed.

Monogastric Animals Store Other Contaminants

Monogastric animals are less capable of breaking down and neutralizing toxins.

They also lack sweat glands, which are another avenue for toxin elimination in many other species.

Consequently, toxins accumulate in their fat.

Ruminant animals have an extensive microbial population in their gut that helps them detoxify harmful substances before they get absorbed.

Additionally, the multiple stages of digestion allow for better processing and elimination of toxins.

What You Can Do

If you choose to eat chicken, pork or eggs, get them from clean sources like White Oak Pastures or US Wellness Meats.

You can also visit www.regenerativefarmersofamerica.com to find a regenerative farm in your area. Just make sure that they don’t get fed corn, soy, and other garbage.

Interestingly, cleaner pork and chicken is significantly darker (clean pork almost looks like beef), and egg yolks are much yellower.

If you do not have access to pasture/regeneratively-raised meat, always choose beef over chicken/pork. Or, get lean cuts like pork loin or chicken breast, since the majority of toxins are stored in the fat.

I hope you found this useful.

Until next time,

Kashif Khan

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for medical advice from your physician or other medical professional. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your regular health care provider.