Better, Best, Beef?!

The weight of scientific evidence increasingly indicates that a plant-slanted diet optimizes health and longevity.(1) Evidence also indicates that therapeutic plant-based diets can reverse chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.(2),(3) However, there is still more to learn about the health effects of various eating patterns. For example, the Mediterranean Diet indicates that the inclusion of lower amounts of meat as a side dish or flavoring reduce morbidity and mortality associated with higher amounts of meat consumption.(4) 

Is the nutritional quality of meat based on how the animal was raised? Grass-fed and finished vs grain-fed, organic vs conventional...does it matter?

Grass- vs Grain-Fed Beef

The evidence suggests that the nutritional composition of beef depends on what cows eat. In the US, grass-fed beef refers to cattle who never spend time in a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) (eating grain, typically genetically modified corn, prior to slaughter). Ideally, the diet of grass-fed beef includes grasses and other plants they forage in a grazing environment. Studies indicate that grass fed and finished cattle eat as many as 70 different plant varieties, whereas grain fed beef typically are fed no more than 5 different  varieties. Compared to grain-fed beef, grass-fed and finished beef is generally leaner, containing less fat, and, therefore, less calories, has 5 times more of the health-promoting polyunsaturated omega-3 fat, and higher concentrations of the antioxidant carotenoids, beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor) and vitamin E. (5),(6)

Organic vs Conventional Beef

There is a substantial body of evidence suggesting that organic beef, compared to conventional beef raised in CAFOs, has a more desirable fatty acid profile, including a decrease in total and saturated fat, combined with an increase in polyunsaturated fat, including omega-3 fat.(7) Organic beef: 1) is fed organically-produced feed free of animal by-products, pesticides and genetically modified products, 2) is raised without growth-enhancing hormones and sub-therapeutic antibiotics, and 3) has access to outdoors, pastures, shade, exercise areas, fresh air and direct sunlight.(8) 

Recommendations

Compared to the standard American diet, it would seem prudent to practice a Mediterranean-style eating pattern where beef (and all meat) is enjoyed less often, in smaller portions, as research links high intakes of red meat with an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer. Additionally, the World Health Organization has declared that red meat is a probable human carcinogen.(9) The nutritional benefits of beef can be maximized by consuming grass-fed and/or organic over conventionally-raised beef whenever possible.

1. Medina-Remón A, Kirwan R, Lamuela-Raventós RM, Estruch R. Dietary patterns and the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, and neurodegenerative diseases. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018;58(2):262–296. doi:10.1080/10408398.2016.1158690

2. Segovia-Siapco G, Sabaté J. Health and sustainability outcomes of vegetarian dietary patterns: a revisit of the EPIC-Oxford and the Adventist Health Study-2 cohorts [published correction appears in Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019 Apr 25;:]. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019;72(Suppl 1):60–70. doi:10.1038/s41430-018-0310-z

3. Ornish D, Brown SE, Scherwitz LW, et al. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lifestyle Heart Trial. Lancet. 1990;336(8708):129–133. doi:10.1016/0140-6736(90)91656-u

4. Ornish D, Scherwitz LW, Billings JH, et al. Intensive lifestyle changes for reversal of coronary heart disease [published correction appears in JAMA 1999 Apr 21;281(15):1380]. JAMA. 1998;280(23):2001–2007. doi:10.1001/jama.280.23.2001

5. Tosti V, Bertozzi B, Fontana L. Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet: Metabolic and Molecular Mechanisms. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2018;73(3):318–326. doi:10.1093/gerona/glx227

6. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/grass-fed-vs-grain-fed-beef#differences

7. Shahidi F, Ambigaipalan P. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Their Health Benefits. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol. 2018;9:345–381. doi:10.1146/annurev-food-111317-095850

8. Średnicka-Tober D, Barański M, Seal C, et al. Composition differences between organic and conventional meat: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr. 2016;115(6):994–1011. doi:10.1017/S0007114515005073

9. https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/livestock/beef/organic-beef

10. https://news.un.org/en/story/2015/10/513662-new-un-report-links-processed-meats-cancer-humans-red-meat-also-likely-cause   https://www.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr240_E.pdf