Today I discovered that the butcher near my parents house clocks their “lean” ground beef at 88/12. That’s 88% muscle, 12% fat.

Their “extra lean” is even beyond that.

Considering that most supermarket lean ground beef is 80/20, this was a surprise. Supermarket extra lean (or “diet” as I’ve seen recently) clocks in at 85/15.

The butcher’s version of “lean” is leaner than the supermarket’s version of “extra lean.”

Funny, that.

But why does it matter?

It explains why I feel less healthy when I visit my parents.

Not enough fat.

Since I’m a strict(ish) carnivore, I get all of my nutrition and energy from meat and fat. Most of the meat I eat these days is ground beef or pork (easier on the gut than steak) without much added fat–usually it doesn’t need it.

No fat, no energy.

I’m working on a plan to supplement this shortfall until I can get my hands on some fattier cuts of meat.

Right now, that plan is butter.

Butter fixes everything.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by people who don’t think fat is going to kill you.