Grass fed beef is nutrient-dense. And gram for gram has less fat, which means fewer calories, than conventional beef.
But the fat it does have is super good for you.
There are three types of saturated fat – one is beneficial and two are bad for you. Grass fed beef has high levels of the good fat and low levels of the two bad fats. It's the complete opposite to grain fed beef.
It's the same story with unsaturated fats.
Because, as well as omega-6, grass fed beef also contains health giving omega-3 fatty acids.
And it's the balance of those two essential fatty acids that's important. Eating a balanced ratio is linked to a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
A healthy, balanced, diet should consist of about four times more omega-6 than omega-3. But in today's diets it averages 10-1, and sometimes as high as 30-1.
Getting that balance right is where grass fed makes a major difference. It gives you up to five times more omega-3 than grain fed beef.
That's because feeding cattle grain increases the levels of omega-6 fatty acids and reduces the level of omega-3 in the animals. While grass fed does the opposite.
Meat from grass fed cattle is also four times higher in vitamin E. As well as being higher in thiamin and riboflavin and the minerals: calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
And it doesn't end there... grass fed beef contains about twice as much Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) as grain-fed beef. It's a special fat with remarkable properties. In fact, there's evidence to suggest CLA consumption reduces the incidence and progression of some types of cancer in humans. And some studies also suggest it could be a potential therapeutic against breast and/or colon cancer.
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