Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 91: Two Beef Myths That Mislead Consumers and What the Research Really Says

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91: Two Beef Myths That Mislead Consumers and What the Research Really Says · CattleUSA Daily

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  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
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  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the update
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  shaping agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
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  passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
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  informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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  episode. Hey y'all, welcome back to
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  another episode of the Cattle USA Daily podcast.
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  Today we are bringing back something we've kind of been
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  doing every once in a while recently, and that is bringing
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  you guys to claims that we are seeing in the media right now
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  about the beef industry or about agriculture.
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  And debunking those, talking about them, talking about what
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  we're seeing in the media, the facts behind them.
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  And then empowering you guys as producers to be able to go into
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  your own communities, go into the world not only more informed
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  yourselves, but then also we can then encourage a more informed
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  consumer population. Because if we're not informed
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  ourselves as producers, how can we expect our consumer
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  population to be informed if we don't even know the facts?
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  So we have two claims for you guys today, and we're talking
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  specifically health and how beef is really fueling us as a
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  society, but the media thinks it's killing us.
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  So claim number one, beef increases your risk of dying
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  early. OK, where is this coming from?
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  Where? Why?
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  Why is this even a concern? Why is this even a headline?
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  We have observational studies like those found in The Lancet
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  and then Harvard Public Health that suggests links between red
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  meat and heart disease, cancer, or early death.
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  These studies dominate the headlines, but they miss so much
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  context. So, so, so much context is
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  missed. OK, here are the things that are
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  actually going on. These studies don't separate
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  lean beef from processed meats like hot dogs.
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  They don't control for lifestyle factors like smoking, exercise,
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  alcohol use, or sugar intake. And you know what the reality of
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  it is? If you eat your burger with
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  fries and a soda but never move your body, I'm sorry, but it's
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  not the burger that's the problem.
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  And here's the thing of what controlled trials show, no high
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  quality randomized trial has ever shown the eating moderate
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  amounts of unprocessed red meat causes any diseases.
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  Many new studies are actually calling for a neutral dietary
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  guidelines surrounding beef. And here's the thing with
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  processed meat and unprocessed meat, in the confusion of
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  specificity with those in these, we need to actually acknowledge
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  that that processed meats have things like nitrates and
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  preservatives and excess sodium in them, whereas lean
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  unprocessed beef has a way higher protein content, no
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  sugar, and it's loaded with micronutrients.
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  And that is not taken into consideration with these
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  studies. That is so important to remember
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  as producers and as consumers when you were seeing these
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  headlines that yeah, those are headlines.
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  And that is a scientific study and it was done well enough to
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  be in the Harvard Health Journal.
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  But it doesn't take into consideration key factors like
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  that unprocessed meat versus lean meat.
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  Actually, in 2021, we saw meta meta analysis done by the
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  Journal of Nature Medicine, and it found no significant evidence
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  to justify current limits on red meat consumption.
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  And we are obviously seeing more and more about this.
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  Beef is not a death sentence. It's what's for dinner.
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  And bad science just makes good headlines.
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  But real beef deserves better at the end of the day.
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  OK, claim number two. You don't need animal protein to
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  be healthy. This is a big push from plant
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  based studies, plant based companies, everything like that.
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  And critics argue that you can get all the protein and
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  nutrients that you need from plants.
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  But that argument ignores blatantly ignores
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  bioavailability, nutrient density, and real world access.
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  And here's the truth. Animal protein that is something
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  that is complete and efficient for our dietary needs.
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  Beef contains all nine essential amino acids in the right ratios
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  and in a form that your body can actually absorb, whereas plant
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  proteins often lack one or more of these essential aminos, or
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  they require combining multiple sources like rice and beans to
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  match beef's profile that is already naturally given to you.
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  It's crazy how something created for us by God to naturally
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  consume regularly is in the perfect ratios and then in the
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  perfect form for our bodies to absorb.
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  Crazy how that works. And guys, this is especially
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  critical for people like children, pregnant women, the
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  elderly, and low income or food insecure communities.
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  For the people who need it most, animal protein is not a
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  preference. It is actually a lifeline to
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  their dietary needs. So here's some nutrients that
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  you'll miss if you just eat plants.
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  Vitamin B12, which is not found naturally in plant foods and
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  would need to be supplemented outside of dietary options that
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  you are giving yourself. Next you're seeing iron.
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  There's four times more by bioavailable iron in beef than
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  there is in plant based iron. Next we're seeing zinc,
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  creatine, DHA, taurine and kerosene, which are all found in
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  higher levels in meat. You need to eat with this.
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  This is amazing. Like just like a little fun fact
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  about vitamins and nutrients and bioavailability and absorption
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  rates and everything like that. And I am a health nut so I could
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  go into absorption and bioavailability and all of that
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  and what all of that means and a whole another episode and
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  probably sit here for an hour and talk to you about how our
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  body actually absorbs things and the way that our cells breakdown
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  different items and everything like that.
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  But as far as plants versus beef and specifically in the iron
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  realm, one of my favorite fun facts is that you would need to
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  eat 8 cups of spinach to get the same iron as 3 ounces of beef.
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  And your body still absorbs less of that iron in the spinach than
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  it does the beef because of the bioavailability and because of
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  our natural absorption abilities with that beef versus the
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  spinach. So just a little fun fact for
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  you, The thing is guys, you can live without beef, but you might
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  not thrive at the end of the day, especially, especially
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  especially if you are not supplementing with the correct
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  supplements that you're not getting naturally through your
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  plant based diets. And that is something that we
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  see a lot in the push for a plant based diet.
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  And in that community is people with nutrient deficiencies like
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  those B twelves, like that iron, like the zinc, creatine, the
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  Dhas, things like that that you can get for from outside
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  sources. But if you are not knowledgeable
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  or understand how all of that works, then you're missing that
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  and your body is suffering because of it.
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  But if you're just eating beef, then you don't have to worry
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  about that because your body is getting all of the natural
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  nutrients that it needs from that super House of a food.
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  The thing is guys, beef fuels muscle, brain power and energy.
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  Tofu, not so much. And I can't necessarily say that
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  tofu is here nor there. There are some meals that have
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  it in there that is perfectly fine.
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  But beef fuels your body in a way that nothing else can
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  compare to. And if you care about your
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  health, you care about a better protein quality.
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  And beef is the highest protein quality that you can find out
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  there. So here is what you can do guys.
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  I talked about two specific to health claims against beef
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  today. What you can do?
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  Open up that notes app. Write down some quick facts that
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  I gave you about these different claims.
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  Write down two things about these claims in your notes app.
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  Recite them to your memory. Be prepared.
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  Be a better and informed producer population so that we
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  can have a better consumer population and a more informed
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  consumer population. Go share about beef and the
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  powerhouse of a nutrient that beef is with your communities,
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  with those around you, and continue to be an advocate
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  because guys, it starts with us. It starts with these grassroots
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  initiatives of us showing up every single day willing to
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  fight for this industry and willing to fight these
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  mainstream headlines and show that beef.
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  That's what's for dinner. And we are Dang proud of it.
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  And it is an amazing protein source and it is healthy for
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  you. It is not killing you and it is
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  what you need in your life to have a sustainable beef industry
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  and beef market here in the United States.
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  We need to keep consumer demand. And a big part of that starts
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  with having an informed consumer population that knows that beef
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  is healthy for them. And they are not just leaning
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  into it because it is the most available source, but it is also
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  the source that is best for them and best for their family.
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  And they're making an amazing and healthy choice by feeding it
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  to their families. And we need to continue to get
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  that story out there and share that beef is great not only in
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  taste, but also in quality. Thank you guys so much for
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  listening to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast.
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  If you enjoyed today's episode, I would really appreciate it if
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  you would like subscribe, rate, review.
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  All of those things take like 10 seconds to do each.
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  And they mean the world to us. They help us continue to grow
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  this podcast, grow this platform, and continue to reach
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  more producers and then in turn, reach more consumers and just
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  continue to evolve a better ranching operation, ranching
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  community and cattle industry as a whole.
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  So thank you guys so much for listening and we will see you
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  all tomorrow on another episode. Have a good one y'all.