The Skinny on Grass-Fed Beef Fat Benefits
We all know the old saying “you are what you eat”, well that saying applies to the food that your food eats. A cow’s diet has a major impact on the quality and nutritional value of beef, specifically the fatty acid composition. Here’s how grass-fed beef fatty acid composition is different from grain or corn-fed beef.
But the composition of fatty acids is also different:
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- Monounsaturated fat: Grass-fed beef contains much less monounsaturated fat than grain-fed beef (1).
- Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats: Grass-fed and grain-fed beef contain very similar amounts of omega-6 fatty acids.
- Omega-3s: This is where grass-fed really makes a major difference, containing up to five times as much omega-3 (2).
- Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA): Grass-fed beef contains about twice as much CLA as grain-fed beef. This fatty acid is associated with a few health benefits (3, 4).
These benefits listed above, make grass-fed beef a cut above the rest. The more you know!
