Increasingly people are learning about the benefits of grass fed beef. Grass fed beef is more lean, it has higher levels of the beneficial fats CLA and the Omega-3s.
Grass fed beef is pretty much as the name implies. Steers eat fresh growing grass in open pastures. Many steers that hit the supermarket are grass fed until their last three or four months when they are sent to a feedlot to be "finished" on grain. They get fatter and the nature of their fat changes. Grass fed and finished beef moves from the pasture to slaughter. He is never fattened on grain and the nature of the fat is never changed.
When a steer is finished on grain, the level of depression-fighting Omega-3 fatty acid declines, Omega-6 fatty acids increase, and, in general, the health benefit of the steak or burger declines as well.
But it's important to note that even though Omega-3 fatty acids are present in the muscle of a grass fed steer, that steak is not an Omega-3 super food.
A 100 gram steak (about 3.5 ounces) from a grass fed steer has about 100 milligrams of Omega-3 fatty acids. Check out the list below of fish and seafood highest in Omega-3s. Even the lowest has ten times more Omega-3 than the beef.
Grass fed beef does help my goal of reducing the overall ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids in my diet, but it is not a replacement for a good source of fish, particularly wild fish.
Comments (4)
Grass-fed beef is a great source for Omega-3 fatty acids. Do the research... you will not be disappointed.
For the North Texas area, JP Natural Beef is a great source for quality grass-fed beef.
Posted by Paul | September 11, 2007 2:06 PM | Reply
Hey Paul. Thanks for posting. Beef on the range definitely has higher levels of Omega 3s than cattle yard beef -- you can see that in the figure above from the Duckett study. It is a good choice for keeping your Omega 3s and 6s in balance. But if you are really lacking in Omega 3s and have been for a long time, beef is not the primary answer. Grass fed beef is lean for starters. Something like salmon is in order and, quite likely, a cod liver oil or fish oil supplement for a while. Clinical trials of depression use several grams of Omega 3 fatty acid a day. A beef steak may only have about 1/10 of a gram.
Amanda
Posted by Amanda Rose | September 12, 2007 6:48 PM | Reply
Sure grass-fed beef may have more Omega 3's than grain fed beef, but in order to recieve a daily value of O 3 acids from it you would have to eat 16lbs. per day. Also, grass-fed beef has a very undesirable flavor, especially if cooked wrong. Not only that but grass-fed animals typically have a much longer finish time resulting in unsoluble collagen in the lean resulting in tough meat.
Posted by c pearson | September 18, 2009 8:41 PM | Reply
I don't think there is a DRI for Omega 3 yet but I should check. In any case, people fighting depression most definitely should not see grass-fed beef as their sole strategy in getting the 4 grams a day of Omega 3 that is generally recommended. You need fatty fish or a supplement for that amount.
On the flavor, maybe I'm just an odd duck, but I like it.
Posted by Amanda Rose
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September 18, 2009 9:26 PM | Reply