Free Roaming Grass-Fed Icelandic Lamb
How Pure is Pure?
Icelandic lamb was chosen as a source for Pure Natura’s products, due to the fact that Icelandic livestock is brought up by the best possible natural conditions. Such conditions are not common,but extremely suitable for raising stock for human consumption. Icelandic nature contributes to the purity and uniqueness of the material.
More sheep than people
Iceland is a volcanic island in the N-Atlantic, between Greenland and Scandinavia. It is a sparsely populated island, best known for its pure and unspoiled nature. Around 1200 years ago, when Vikings found and settled in Iceland, they brought with them sheep which have been bred ever since in isolation, for meat and wool. These sheep are the original Scandinavian breed and have never been mixed with other sheep-breeds. In order to prevent diseases in Icelandic lambs, importation of living sheep and semen to Iceland has been forbidden for many centuries. Interesting fact; there are more sheep in Iceland than people – which is kind of unique in itself.
In Iceland, the regulation and supervision of agriculture, livestock facilities, feeding, and slaughter is strong and in accordance with EU rules. The usage of toxins and medicine in agriculture and animal husbandry is extremely low and hormones or growth-boosting drugs are unheard of.
Grown-up sheep are kept in special sheep-stables during winter. They are fed with hay until spring when they have their lambs. During summer, or just after the lambs are born, they are taken up to the highlands to the wilderness of Iceland, where they roam around free while their lambs grow up. In autumn they are rounded up and brought back from the mountains, before winter. At about four months of age, the vast majority of the lambs are harvested for meat production.
What’s so special?
Lambs bred in Iceland are 100% grass fed, they are never fed any grain or hay. The only feed they get is their mothers’ milk, grass, and herbs, which they choose and pick themselves in the highlands. They have endless space to move around, rest and enjoy the sun, the clear water, and the clean air and choose from various sorts of grasses grown in the mineral-rich volcanic soil. This results in very robust and healthy individuals. It can undoubtedly be said that there are not many places in the world where it is possible to get livestock products, from animals which are brought up under such good conditions. They can literally be classified as a wild game.
The raw materials are desiccated without excessive heat, powdered, blended and capsuled. That makes it easy to use as a nutritional supplement with a normal diet or as an addition to special diets such as raw foods.
According to the website of The George Mateljan Foundation, grass-fed lamb contains Omega 3 in high dosages. George Mateljahe the author of the book “The world´s Healthiest Foods” states that lamb meat contains approximately 50% the amount of omega 3 acid found in cod and tuna. Meat from grass-fed lambs also includes the healthy fatty acid CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). “Ever-increasing number of studies show increased intake of CLA to be associated with improved immune and inflammatory function, improved bone mass, improved blood sugar regulation, reduced body fat, and better maintenance of lean body mass. Recent studies show that grass-fed lamb contains nearly twice as much CLA as conventionally fed lamb. Interestingly, lambs grazing during the spring and summer months store more CLA than lambs grazing during the fall and winter; higher CLA storage is also found for lambs grazing on highland and mountain pastures.” See: Grass-fed lamb, world healthiest food.
Grass-fed Icelandic lamb is also an excellent source of vitamin B12, niacin and other B vitamins such as B1, B2, B6, folic acid, biotin, pantothenic acid, and choline. It is also a good source for zinc and phosphor.
Win – Win
The glands used by Pure Natura are by-products derived from the harvesting of lambs for human consumption. In addition to making this valuable raw material available to interested consumers, it promotes full utilization of raw materials, creates jobs and promotes sustainability.
The Pure Natura team is proud to be engaged in such production and hope it will benefit you.