How and why our corn & soy free chicken has a perfect 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio!

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June 7, 2024

Our pastured corn & soy free chicken is delicious and as natural as can be. It's grown regeneratively on top notch soil. It's free of chemicals, vaccines, drugs, and GMOs. It's low PUFA. It's air chilled (washed in water and only water). The chickens drink well water (with no added fluoride or stuff like that).

People choose our chicken for many different reasons, but it seems that the #1 reason is that it's corn & soy free. I had always been on the fence about this. I mean, how much does the feed matter? Does the soil matter more when it comes to nourishing your body?

A few weeks ago, my question was answered. A local farmer told me that Miller's chicken was mentioned in episode 91 of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast called "You Are What You Eat: Examining Beef and Plants". If you give it a listen, around minute 38:00, Dr. Stephan van Vliet talks about our chicken... and now I know that feed ingredients matter A LOT!

Dr. van Vliet tested our chicken, and it has a perfect 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio.

Wow!!! He didn't even know that was possible with chicken. Conventional CAFO chicken, living indoors and fed GMO corn and soy, has a 30:1 ratio. Most pastured chicken has a 7:1 ratio. But, ours has the ideal 1:1 ratio. Wow again!!!

The omega 3/6 ratio matters for your health.

For some reference, the conventional American diet typically provides a 20:1 omega 6/3 ratio overall. But, humans should eat a 1:1 - 4:1 ratio for optimal health.

Before I go any farther, it's important to note that both omega 3s and omega 6s are polyunsaturated fats, AKA PUFAs. Yes, a low PUFA diet is trendy right now. And overconsumption of PUFAs (especially highly processed ones) can have a detrimental affect on your health. However, your body needs a certain amount of certain kinds of PUFAs for optimal health, and those include omega 3s and 6s.

The human body is capable of producing all the fatty acids it needs... except for two: linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid). You need to get those through food, and they're super important. This is why they're called "essential fatty acids".

Omega 3s and 6s make up parts of cell membranes and are precursors to many other substances in the body. They're involved in regulating blood pressure and inflammatory responses (among many other things). They work hand in hand.

But, as with anything in nature, balance is imperative. When you have too much omega-6 fatty acids, it can lead to awful health outcomes. The first that's likely to appear is inflammation, which can then lead to a host of other issues. A too high omega 6/3 ratio can result in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, asthma, depression, fatigue... the list goes on and on.

I mean, given the standard 20:1 omega 6/3 ratio for the average American, it's no wonder Americans are sadly in such poor health.

Too much omega-6 is mainly coming from seeds and seed oils.

Modern America just loves its seeds. I mean, the government literally pays us to eat them by subsidizing GMO corn and soy. We feed it to animals to make cheap meat and eggs. We make alt milk with it. We process it like heck to make strangely affordable processed food that lasts forever and always has the same consistency.

I've heard it said that, if you could simply eliminate seed oils from your diet, you'd be good. But, now that I've heard this podcast, I fear that's not enough. You need to eliminate it from the diets of the animals your food comes from, too.

What's in an animal's feed affects the omega 3/6 ratio.

The higher the omega 6/3 ratio in the feed, the higher the omega 6/3 ratio in the meat, eggs, and milk. As they say, "You are what you eat."

We can see this clearly in the general stats out there. Conventional chicken is around 30:1, eggs are 20:1, milk is 6:1, and grain fed beef is 8:1. But, their more natural pasture raised counterparts have much better ratios. Pastured chicken is around 7:1, eggs are 1:1, grass-fed milk is 1:1, and grass-fed beef is 1:1-2:1.

Why is this? Most animals in the US (even organic or pasture raised ones) are predominantly fed corn and soy. Look at the omega 6/3 ratios:

Corn ≈ 50:1
Soy ≈ 7:1

It seems that it's really corn that's the culprit here. What's interesting about that is that, from a farmer's perspective, it's much easier to remove soy from the feed than corn.

In comparison, look at the omega 6/3 ratios in our chicken feed:

Wheat ≈ 9:1
Peas ≈ 2:1
Barley ≈ 20:1 (but 4:55 when sprouted)
Fishmeal (from Sardines) ≈ 1:2
Flax seed ≈ 1:4
Kelp ≈ 1:1

It seems to me that the blend on a whole must have around a 1:1 ratio (with lots of help from fishmeal and flax). And this is why our pastured corn & soy free chicken has an outstanding 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio. I mean, it's honestly perfection.

What do you look for when shopping for chicken? Is the omega 6/3 ratio something you'll consider (especially after reading this)?

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us.

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References

Episode 91 of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
Getting Your Omega-3 to Omega-6 Ratio Right Is Essential
The importance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Omega-3 and Omega-6 Commonly Eaten Foods PDF
The test results from Dr. Stephan van Vliet at Utah State University:

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Our bone broth tested A+++ for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

*Originally published on 3/14/25. Updated on 4/15/25. Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the bones. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment. And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you use apple cider vinegar to draw everything out and make it thick and gelatinous (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead: (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. And, as we know, our poor planet is becoming more and more contaminated with toxins like these toxic heavy metals 😢 What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We need to stay vigilant and test from time to time. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We actually tested twice. As it turns out, the first test results from March had too high a LOQ (limit of quantification). So, we sent new products in April for testing at a lower LOQ. The results are in! Our bone broth tested A+++ for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the actual Eurofins test results right here! For easy reference, here's a chart summarizing the results: You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<1.0 μg/kg" and "<4.0 μg/kg". The "<" indicates the limit of quantification (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So if a "<" result appears, it means that none of that metal was found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQ. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that's not provided by the test. It's also important to note that a μg/kg is a part per billion (ppb). So, for 1 μg/kg, in every billion grams of that food, there would be one gram (or 0.0000001%) of that particular heavy metal. This small numbers matter when it comes to toxic heavy metals, since it doesn't take all that much for your body to become inundated and start experiencing issues or damage. These results are excellent. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals and are within safe levels. Our amazing customers mentioned Mike Adams to me numerous times after we released the first set of broth results. Mike Adams is an outspoken consumer health advocate, investigative journalist, activist, and science lab director. It turns out Eurofins, the lab we used, is a lab that he recommends. Moreover, our results land us in his highest rating when it comes to heavy metals! I think we're doing pretty great when it comes to providing clean, natural food. But, the results did make me pause. You might be thinking what I first thought -- "But wait, you got a positive reading for arsenic. Isn't that bad?" Let's dive in -- Where would arsenic in food come from? First off, it's important to note that there are organic forms of arsenic as well as inorganic forms. Our body can handle the organic kind pretty well. But, the inorganic kind is carcinogenic. Our test results show the level of all arsenic, and it doesn't divide inorganic and organic. Second, it was a mystery to me how arsenic had a reading in the ground beef but not the beef bone broth. Thankfully, that has a pretty easy explanation. Whereas lead mainly accumulates in the bones, arsenic accumulates more in the organs and muscles. And, of course, meat is muscle. It was also quite perplexing how arsenic showed in our beef as well as our chicken. You see, our beef and chicken are grown on two separate farms (hours apart) and are processed at two separate processors (also hours apart). They're fed two completely separate diets, too! My only explanation is farmland in general or maybe even our environment in general. Organic arsenic has always been naturally present in the soil and water. It's just there in small amounts. But, levels nowadays are likely higher due to overuse of products laden with inorganic arsenic over time. Starting in the 1940s, conventional farmers would include drugs filled with inorganic arsenic in the feed for pigs and chickens and turkeys to encourage fast growth and prevent disease. Ugh. This actually led to concerns about arsenic poisoning, and that that practice was banned recently, in 2016. It makes me think that all the agri-waste has contaminated our farmland a bit, perhaps in both the soil and water. And then of course there are synthetic pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that may contain inorganic arsenic. And their use on conventional farms might runoff everywhere else. Now, let's compare our results to food in general. Ours are extremely low. The data below is based on a few scientific studies: Arsenic: Rice contains anywhere from 90-450 ppb (that includes that rice cereal for babies, too). Meat and poultry in general typically contain 100-200 ppb.Cadmium: Spinach contains 1117-222 ppb. Rice contains 6-19 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10 ppb.Lead: Meat and poultry in general contain about 25 ppb.Mercury: The larger the fish, the more time it has to accumulate mercury. Swordfish and king mackerel can have about 1,000 ppb. Meat and poultry in general contain about 10-50 ppb. Wow! Putting that into perspective, it looks like our broth and meat are quite clean and extremely low in toxic heavy metals! Are you satisfied with our heavy metal results? Do you think we should take further action? Should we test other products? Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research ReviewInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herd Consumer Wellness Center Labs Heavy Metal RatingsArsenic in Meat and Animal ProductsInorganic arsenic toxicosis in a beef herdArsenic in brown rice: do the benefits outweigh the risks?A Survey of the Levels of Selected Metals in U.S. Meat, Poultry, and Siluriformes Fish Samples Taken at Slaughter and Retail, 2017–2022Arsenic in your foodDietary exposure to cadmium from six common foods in the United StatesMercury Content in Commercially Available Finfish in the United States Author links open overlay panel

Celebrating the Heritage of Corn on National Popcorn Lovers Day

You've probably heard a lot about GMO corn and its controversies, but did you know that corn, or maize as many Native Americans call it, is a cherished heritage food? Let's take a closer look at corn and learn about its history.

How and why our corn & soy free chicken has a perfect 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio!

Dr. van Vliet tested our chicken, and it has a perfect 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio.

The omega 3/6 ratio matters for your health.

Too much omega-6 is mainly coming from seeds and seed oils.

What's in an animal's feed affects the omega 3/6 ratio.

What do you look for when shopping for chicken? Is the omega 6/3 ratio something you'll consider (especially after reading this)?

More from the blog

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Our bone broth tested A+++ for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

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