Grass-Fed Meat Much More Nutritious, Study Shows

The reasons to support grass-fed meat are numerous. It's better for the environment, better for the animals, and, in my humble opinion, the taste is out-of-this-world. Add to the list the fact that it's without a doubt much more nutritious, as a new study in the Nutrition Journal shows.

The paper surveys three decades of research comparing the fatty acid content of grass-fed and conventional grain-fed meats. The scientists conclude that grass-fed beef has a healthier fatty acid profile, including an omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio twice as high as grain-fed beef, and significantly increased cancer-fighting antioxidants. In addition to having more "good" cholesterol-neutral fats and less "bad" cholesterol-increasing fats, the overall fat content of grass-fed meat is much, much lower. On top of all that, grass-fed meat also has significantly higher in precursors for Vitamin A and E. The paper unequivocally concludes that to maximize these health benefits, "animals should be finished on 100% grass or pasture-based diets."

In recent decades red meat has received a lot of flack from nutritional scientists. While it is true that the majority of Americans likely need to drastically reduce their meat consumption, it seems that the real enemy is not red meat itself, but a very specific kind of red meat: the factory-farmed kind. Grain-fed meat has become ubiquitous at this point, so it can seem daunting to make the switch, but there are still plenty of dedicated farmers out there producing meat that is much better for the animals and, the paper shows, much better for you. I encourage you to check out Eat Wild, my favorite site on grass-fed meat. It has an exhaustive list of farmers, restaurants, and retailers where you can find some grass-fed goodness for yourself, and that list grows every day.

A few years ago I swore off factory farmed meat for good, and I will never look back. It's true that grass-fed meat is generally a little more expensive, but when you eat meat a little less often (as you probably should anyway), you wind up spending the same as you did before. Now, I only buy meat once a week or so, but I appreciate its taste so much more. Conventional meat now seems bland in comparison to the robust, grass-fed flavors. In the face of the clearly superior taste, health benefits, environmental benefits, and ethics of grass-fed meat, a slight increase in price seems entirely called for (and silly to complain about). I gladly pay it, and I encourage you to give it a try.

Photo credit: Richard New Forest via Wikimedia Commons