• Start Here
  • About
  • Recommended
  • Books
  • Shop
  • My Account
  • Search
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Autoimmunity
  • Nutrition
  • Gut Health
  • Wiki
  • Contact
  • Media Requests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate
  • Refund Policy
  • Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content

The PaleoMom circular atom logo

The Paleo Mom is a scientist turned health educator and advocate.

  • Start Here
  • About
  • Recommended
  • Books
  • Shop
  • My Account
  • Search
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Autoimmunity
  • Nutrition
  • Gut Health
  • Wiki
You are here: Home / Autoimmunity / Grass-Fed Beef: A Superfood worth the Premium Price

Grass-Fed Beef: A Superfood worth the Premium Price

March 20, 2012 //  by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0

About Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD

Award-winning public speaker, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned health expert, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (aka The Paleo Mom) believes the key to reversing the current epidemics of chronic disease is scientific literacy. She creates educational resources to help people regain their health through diet and lifestyle choices informed by the most current evidenced-based scientific research.

There are many excellent reasons to choose grass-fed meat over conventional, or grain-fed, meat (and don’t get me started on why the word “conventional” is used to describe meat from animals fed diets that are not native to that species).  From an animal welfare standpoint, grass-fed animals are treated better, happier and healthier.  The E. coli contamination of grass-fed meat is extremely low compared to conventional meat (in large part because pastured cows have healthy intestines!) in spite of the fact that, while antibiotic use is routine in CAFOs, antibiotics and hormones are not used at all in grass-fed animals (yay!).  From an environmental impact standpoint, eating grass-fed means supporting smaller (often local, family-owned) farms and thereby reducing fuel costs to get the meat to you.  And by avoiding grains in any part of your personal food chain, you avoid supporting large factory farms which degrade topsoil and leach fertilizers and pesticides into our rivers, lakes and oceans.

But it is the superfood status of grass-fed beef (or lamb or bison or goat… any ruminid) that makes the higher cost worth paying.

The Autoimmune Protocol E-Book!

One of my FAVORITE books I used to start the transition to AIP!!! It’s so helpful! I printed mine out and spiral bound it. Thank you for this! -Rita Davidson

The Autoimmune Protocol e-book is your up-to-date guide to jump-start your healing with the AIP today.

  • 3oo+ pages of quick-access information on the AIP
  • 4 weeks of meal plans with shopping lists
  • over 80 family-friendly recipes, all 100% AIP!

Get instant digital access for $19.99

Buy Now

Red meat is typically recommended due to its high (complete) protein content, as well as being a good source of iron, zinc and many of the B Vitamins (including being a particularly valuable source of Vitamin B12).  This is, of course, still true for grass-fed meat.  Grass-fed meat tends to have a much lower water content than conventional meat and is much leaner overall than conventional meat (which means higher in protein!).  Plus, the fats that it does contain are much healthier.  Grass-fed meat contains approximately four times more omega-3 fatty acids (in the very useful DHA and EPA forms) than grain-fed meat.  It also contain far fewer omega-6 fatty acids so that the ratio of ometa-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in grass-fed meat is approximately 1:3 (but it’s closer to 1:20 in grain-fed meat).  Meat (and dairy) from grass-fed cows are the richest known source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), another very important, anti-inflammatory fatty acid.  Grass-fed beef is an excellent source of Vitamin A (10 times more than grain fed), Vitamin E (3 times more than grain fed) and is also higher in B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and potassium.  In fact, all of the health arguments against eating red meat do not apply to grass-fed meat.

I know grass-fed meat is more expensive.  Ground grass-fed beef typically runs about $6 per pound, which is about 50% more than conventional beef at the grocery store (although if you factor in the lower water content, it might be only about 30% more).  The tips for incorporating grass-fed meat into your diet are the same for any buying anything on a tight budget:  shop around, keep an eye out for coupons and sales, and when possible, buy in bulk.  Many farmers will sell you ¼-½ butchered cow, and while the initial investment (and freezer space requirement) is fairly steep, the price per pound can be as low as $2!  It’s also much more important to buy grass-fed meat for your cheaper, fattier cuts of meat.  So, if you are on a tight budget, buy your 75-85% ground beef from grass-fed sources, but buy leaner cuts from conventional sources.  I buy my grass-fed meat from several different producers: a wonderful local farmer, Grass-Fed Traditions (grassfedtraditions.com) and US Wellness Meats (grasslandbeef.com). What I buy from which depends on price, promotions, and what I’m looking for.  US Wellness Meats has very good prices, outstanding variety, and is one of the few sources of grass-fed hotdogs, sausages and deli meats (like bologna!), but requires a minimum $75 and 7 pound order (but free shipping with a $7.50 handling fee).  Grass-Fed Traditions (a division of Tropical Traditions, which is my source for all things coconut) has higher prices in general but has amazing sales.  It also has no minimum order and flat-rate shipping (I often wait until meat is on sale at the same time as they have a free shipping promotion).  I keep a close eye on their homepage for sales and then stock up with a bigger order.

One quick word of warning while you are shopping for grass-fed meat:  grass-fed means that the animals only eat grass for their entire lives (you may also see it described as “grass-fed and grass-finished”).  Some producers will “grain-finish” their meat in order to increase the size of the cattle and be somewhat cagey about this fact.  Also note that organic beef or lamb is not the same as grass-fed (although grass-fed is organic, it’s not necessarily true the other way around).  Some producers supplement with grain so the animals are “mostly grass-fed”, which is an improvement over conventional meat but hard to quantify just how much of an improvement. So, whether buying from a local farmer or your butcher, if you aren’t familiar with the producer, ask whether or not the meat is grass-finished.

Because ground meat is the cheapest way to incorporate grass-fed meat in your diet, I have been working on a bunch of new recipes using ground meat.  Look for the new section on the blog just for recipes using ground meat!

The Gut Health Guidebook!

The depth of information, practical tips, and the accessible way Dr. Sarah shows me how to apply complex science to improve my health is truly remarkable. -Wendy

The Gut Health Guidebook is the culmination of 6 years of research. This unprecedented deep dive into the gut microbiome delivers:

  • A new diet for gut health, built from the ground up
  • Essential gut microbiome superfoods
  • 20 Keys to gut health

Get instant digital access for $27.99

Buy Now

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0

Category: Autoimmunity, Nutrition

Get the Definitive AIP Resource

 

The Paleo Approach is the New York Times bestselling epic guidebook that explains all of the detailed WHYs behind every facet of the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol.

Get Your Copy HERE!

You may also like

  • Kale: Superfood and Delicious Too!

    Kale is definitely a superfood.  And as far as superfoods…

  • Italian Fennel Beef Sausage

    On the Autoimmune Protocol, my standard breakfast consists of sausage, some…

  • AIP Breakfast Sausage (no eggs)-028 copy
    Beef Breakfast Sausage (AIP-friendly)

    It can be tough to find a full autoimmune protocol…

  • Hearty Beef Stew

    This recipe was a special request from one of my…

  • Barbecued Beef Heart Kabobs

    I absolutely love heart.  It has a rich, steak-like flavor,…

  • Why Everyone Should Be Eating Organ Meat

    You’ve probably heard a lot about how important it is…

Previous Post: «Avocado Banana Sorbet with Candied Walnuts Avocado-Banana Sorbet with Candied Walnuts
Next Post: Graham Crackers graham crackers»
  • Contact
  • Media Requests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate
  • Refund Policy

Lithium Apple logo

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Itunes

Site Footer

Disclaimer: The majority of the links in ThepaleoMom.com posts and sidebar are affiliate program links.
This means that (most of the time) when you purchase a product linked from my site, I receive a commission.

Copyright © 2021 The Paleo Mom · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.