Why Grass Fed Beef is Better for Your Health
by Vin Miller
Despite the fact that humans have evolved on red meat, it’s been unduly regarded as an unhealthy food. While some of this is based on misconception, the health benefits of red meat truly depend on the livestock it comes from and how they’re raised.
As the most popular and widely available type of red meat, beef has been targeted with much of the criticism. While the beef from conventionally raised cattle deserves some of this criticism, grass fed beef is an excellent source of nutrition that promotes good health.
Dispelling a Big Fat Myth
Many of the claims against beef are based on the theory that it causes heart disease because of the cholesterol and saturated fat that it contains. However, there is plenty of convincing information suggesting that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol do not cause heart disease. In fact, they’re both essential to our health. Cholesterol is a precursor to important hormones, bile salts needed for digestion, and the vitamin D we produce from sun exposure. It’s also a powerful antioxidant, is crucial for proper brain and nervous system function, and along with saturated fat, is an important component of healthy, strong and well functioning cell membranes.
Cows Don’t Eat Grain
Cows don’t eat grain, and they don’t eat sawdust, newspaper, cardboard or dead animal carcass either, but this is what some farmers feed them anyway. Cows naturally eat grass, but many farmers have become too greedy to provide their cattle with pastures for them to graze on. Instead, they feed them grains and other fillers to fatten them up because it’s easier and more profitable.
Because cattle haven’t evolved to eat grain, they often become sick from relying on it as the staple of their diet. To compensate for this, farmers feed their cattle antibiotics on a regular basis. In addition, the feed they use is often derived from low quality grains that were grown with pesticides and contaminated by mold growth. Based on these factors, the regular beef sold at supermarkets is likely to have come from a sick animal and be contaminated with toxins. In contrast to grass fed beef, this low quality meat is a legitimate health concern.
When it Comes to Beef, Organic Isn’t Enough
Some farmers are conscientious enough to raise their cattle organically, but still choose to feed them grain. While this is a step in the right direction and eliminates the chemical toxins, it still produces beef that’s nutritionally inferior. Unfortunately, raising livestock organically doesn’t always imply that the animals are fed their natural diets.
Why Grass Fed Beef is Better
Common sense should tell us that an animal who eats it’s natural diet will be more healthy and resistant to sickness and disease. Logically, it should follow that the meat from this animal will be more nutritious and more similar to the meat that we’ve evolved on. Personally, this is the only justification I need to spend the extra money on grass fed beef, but I know not everyone is that willing. The following reasons will hopefully provide the rest of the justification that you need.
Less Chance of Infection
Many people associate lightly cooked beef with the risk of contracting mad cow disease or becoming infected with E. coli, salmonella, or parasites. Cattle raised on their natural diet of grass have superior health and are far less susceptible to these infections. As such, it’s much less likely that these infections will be passed on to you through the consumption of their meat. Based on this, I confidently eat grass fed beef barely cooked because I think it’s much more nutritious and flavorful this way.
Healthier Fats
The omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids are gaining considerable attention, and rightly so because they’re essential to our health and can only be obtained through diet. Although we’ve historically required a roughly equivalent amount of these fatty acids, the modern diet is quite high in omega-6 and low in omega-3. This imbalance can cause brain malfunction, heart disease, cancer and many other significant health problems.
Grain fed cattle produce beef that is high in omega-6 fatty acids and contributes to the imbalance that most of us already have. As nature intended, grass fed beef contains a much higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids, and as a result, is far more conducive to proper function and optimal health.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid, often referred to as CLA, is another fatty acid that’s found in grass fed beef at much higher levels. It’s a potent antioxidant and has been found to promote muscle development and reduce production of body fat.
More Vitamins
Vitamin A is an important antioxidant, is essential for digestion of protein, bone development, reproduction and vision. Vitamin A can be produced in the human body from beta carotene which is more abundant in grass fed beef.
Vitamin E is another important vitamin that’s also a strong antioxidant that resists the effects of aging and promotes proper circulation and tissue repair. As with beta carotene, grass fed beef contains much higher levels of vitamin E.
Better Taste
Although taste is a highly subjective matter, a large majority of people who try grass fed beef attest to it’s exceptional flavor. Personally, I never liked beef much until I started eating grass fed beef. It’s now one of my favorite foods and I look forward to a rare and juicy steak just as much as I used to look forward to the unhealthy processed foods that many of us often crave.
Better Treatment of Animals
In some regards, it’s hard to consider any type of livestock farming as humane, but as someone who truly believes in the need for animal protein to promote and sustain good health, I regard it as a necessary evil.
Not all farmers engage in the cruel treatment commonly found with factory farming. When you buy grass fed beef, it’s very likely that it’s from a farmer who cares for his livestock and raises them with the respect and comfort that they deserve. If this is important to you, then I suggest you do some research and buy from a farmer who agrees with your moral standards. Many small farmers are friendly people who would be happy to discuss this with you.
The Benefits We Have Yet to Discover
We’re simply don’t know everything there is to know about each and every way that our health depends on food. The advantages previously mentioned are what we already know about grass fed beef and there are likely many more benefits that we have yet to discover.
What we do know is that cows naturally eat grass, and eating meat from animals that consume their natural diet gives us the best chance of meeting the nutritional requirements that nature has set for us. Without this foundation, maintaining good health will always be a shot in the dark.
Where to Buy Grass Fed Beef
If you want to be as environmentally friendly as possible and know as much as you can about the source of your food, your best option is to buy from a local farmer. You can visit EatWild.com to find a list of farmers in your state that sell grass fed beef, or you can visit LocalHarvest.org to find farmers markets which local farmers commonly sell at.
If you’re not fortunate enough to find a local farmer you trust or if you prefer the convenience of ordering online, two excellent places that will ship grass fed beef to your doorstep if you live in the United States are U.S. Wellness Meats and Blackwing Quality Meats.
Finally, if you can’t afford the extra expense of grass fed beef, consider buying in bulk and splitting the purchase with friends or storing it in a chest freezer. Many farmers sell beef by the quarter or side which can range from 90 pounds to over 200 pounds. When you buy in such a large quantity, the price tends to average around $5 or $6 per pound which is excellent for grass fed beef. Although your order may include a lot of ground beef, you’ll also get premium cuts that typically sell for $10 or $20 per pound.
This article is part of Real Food Wednesdays
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Great article Vin!
I often wonder if the high omega 6’s in our conventional beef is the real reason that health officials say for us to shun red meat.
I too, love grass fed beef, but for those who are new to cooking it, it does require cooking at lower temperatures, slower. And it is best served med to rare. Well done it will be tough, because it is so lean.
Vin, this is great. I’ve been concerned about beef for quite a while since we eat a lot of it and I have problems with inflammation. I know too much Omega 6 causes inflammation. The whole time I was reading your article I was thinking I wonder where I can get it at. Thanks, this is great stuff!
Hi Vin,
A great article and a timely reminder to question what we put in our mouths. I think in these times its good to think in terms of quality not quantity.
Let’s eat the best grass fed beef less often — and in modest portions
Thanks for the feedback guys!
Kimberly – I think it’s at least part of it. What’s unfortunate is that grains and vegetable oils cause more problems but get far less criticism. Great cooking tips! I don’t like any type of meat well done but totally agree that grass fed beef that’s well done can be particularly tough.
Stephen – It’s great that you’re willing to try grass fed beef. Let us know if you can recognize a difference. With or without the omega-6, inflammation is a common symptom of food sensitivities. If you find that even grass fed beef promotes inflammation, you might want to consider avoiding beef altogether for at least a few months. Although a sensitivity to beef is far less likely than a sensitivity to gluten or dairy, any food can cause a problem, even if it’s natural and whole.
Lance – Great point! Particularly in regard to whole foods versus processed foods, eating high quality natural whole foods provides more of the nutrients that the body needs and makes it much harder to overeat. Not only does this improve our health, but also reduces the overall amount of resources that we consume to support our diets.
Thanks for spreading the word about grassfed beef and nutrition. Please remember that the cost of grassfed beef is typically a truer cost than the highly subsidized price that folks are used to paying for traditional beef. If the input and impact costs were know I would bet that we could not afford the current cornfed standard.
Thanks again.
Hi Vin,
I love this post and the way you’re spreading the truth about REAL FOOD. I always love serving grass-fed beef to our family, knowing that we’re getting a superfood.
Thanks for joining in on Real Food Wednesday!
Kelly
p.s. I stumbled your post!
Thanks for the comments guys!
Yak Ranch – That’s a great point and it also exemplifies how big business is ruining our food supply!
Kelly – Natural whole foods have been a major part of drastically improving my health. It would be hard for me to not spread the word about them! Thanks for the stumble!
What an excellent point! Remember though, it’s not just the farmers that are too greedy to treat their cattle right. It’s all of us who want 99 cent hamburgers, 3 dollar a pound steaks and other cheap food. Like Yak Ranch noted, grain feed beef has real costs that are not taken into account when priced for the consumer, but grassfed meat has real costs too. Since the government isn’t picking up the slack the consumer has to pay more. You mentioned buying in bulk and that’s a great way to get the price down. It’s all worth it though for the health of our bodies and our planet.
Thanks for the great post!
Great point Alyss! It’s important for people to regard the extra cost of high quality food as an investment in their health and quality of life. It’s a shame how backwards many people have their priorities. They spend a lot of money on things that are unnecessary but are frugal when it comes to the food that supports their ability to live well.
My grandfather listened to the ‘experts’ who told him to sell his grass fed cattle to the feedlots for a fraction of what they were worth so they could fatten them on grain and make them unhealthy for people to eat. They convinced him that grass and hay was ok for cows used for breeding stock, but cattle raised for food must be fed corn. After giving up his healthy, nutrient dense beef without knowing it, he would take the little money they told him his cattle were worth and buy ‘food’ at the grocery store that did not nourish his body. Like many farmers, he did not feed his family with what he produced. He died of cancer.
It took 34 years for me to begin grass based farming in an effort to provide healthy food for my family and to help address my health issues from a lifetime of industrial food. Watching my 2 year old ask for thirds and fourths of a grass fed steak that we raised and knowing it is not only nutrient dense, but safe for her to eat feels incredible. “How bout more take, Daddy? How bout more?”
I know that the nutrition she and her mom were provided with has given her a great start in life, and I would not have been able to do that without being able to raise food for them in this way. She already tells me that real eggs come from a farm, not the “gocery tore.” I want to be able to continue to provide her with grass fed food throughout her life.
Just when we seem to be making inroads, we realize we need to keep educating people, especially Congress. We can’t allow them make it harder for us to raise food for our families and our neighbors in this way. Our children’s health and future depends on it. Thanks for helping spread the word.
http://petition2congress.com/2/1903/veterans-against-nais/
What a great story Mike, thanks for sharing it! I signed the petition against NAIS that you linked to and encourage anyone else who’s reading to do the same. NAIS is a program that will eliminate much of the choice we have in choosing high quality natural food and will make stories like Mike’s much less possible.
Vin,
Great article and I’m glad to see the number of comments. More people need to be educated about how their meat is produced because of the effect it has on the nutritional value.
Also, great mention about buying in bulk and splitting with others (Time magazine recently did a story on this and called in cow-pooling). A great strategy that our farm is trying to use to help more people get quality grass-fed beef.
Thank you! I agree that more people need to learn about meat quality and even food quality in general. I haven’t read the article in Time magazine, but I think it’s great that pasture raised meat is getting some mainstream attention. I’ve heard the term “cow pooling” before and think it’s a creative and fun way to refer to it.
Whether eating grass finished, pastured & grain supplemented, family farm direct, or convention feedlot beef, the same safe handling practices apply when it comes to e.coli. Several coli outbreaks have been linked to grass fed beef. The spinach outbreak of 2006 was linked to a grassfed beef ranch. Wild life are carriers for this bacteria. This is important to remember.
Hi OMG, thanks for your comment.
You’re right that pasture raised cattle aren’t immune to E. coli. In addition, just because a farm advertises that their cattle are grass fed doesn’t always mean that they aren’t also fed grains or that other short cuts aren’t taken. However, it’s also important to consider the level of risk. Cattle from a feedlot are much more likely to be unhealthy, and they grain they’re fed has resulted in strains of E. coli that are resistant to the acidity of human stomach acid which typically kills it. Another concern with feedlot operations is that the manure is poorly managed and can easily infect water supplies that are used for crop irrigation or even households.
The bottom line is that the consumer must be aware of the risks, make an effort to learn more about where their food is coming from, and make informed decisions based on the resulting knowledge.
I totally agree with you that grass fed beef is better for your health. I only eat meat that comes from animals that have a natural diet. There are no hormones,no pesticides, and no antibiotics in this high source of protein and omega 3 and 6 healthy fats. I shop online in order to have the experts make sure I obtain the highest quality steaks. If you want to buy steaks online that you know are grass fed, I would recommend LaCense Beef. While I do work for them, they honestly offer the best steaks. It is the only ones I will serve myself or my family.
Hi Norma, thanks for your comment and your recommendation on another source to buy high quality meat from.