52: Grass-Fed vs. Conventional Beef: Vitamin and Fatty Acid Comparison

Intro Michael Kummer: And we also talk about what you can do if grass fed, grass finished beef is not in your budget. Studies have shown that grass fed, grass finished beef has significantly more vitamin A and E. So the idea or the goal of grain finishing really is to increase the weight as much as possible. And part of that is because it increases also the fat content within the muscle meat.

So that goes more into the regenerative aspect where you regenerate, you know, the soil quality and improve soil quality for one is, you know, make sure, you know, that that meat has not seen any. You know, three straight options. I mean, one of the reasons we started with MK supplements is to bridge those gaps that you might not be able to bridge because of financial reasons or whatever the case might be, invest in a slow cooker costs you, I don't know, 50 bucks, you know, but 5 for a pound of ground meat. That's at the level of conventionally raised meat!

You are listening to the Primal Shift podcast. I'm your host, Michael Kummer. And my goal is to help you achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society. Get ready to unlock the transformative power of nature as the ultimate biohack, revolutionizing your health and reconnecting you with your primal self.

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Michael Kummer: Grass fat vs. grain fat. What's better? Or more specifically, what's more nutritious? And that's what we're gonna talk about in this episode of the Primer Shift podcast. We'll also define some of those terms because there's a lot of confusing and misleading language floating around on the internet as well as in grocery stores.

And we also talk about what you can do if grass fed, grass finished beef is not in your budget. You know, is it better to not have beef at all? Or are there maybe, you know, alternatives that you can pick from to get most of the benefits? Now let's start with some terminology and specifically with the term grass fed beef, because grass fed beef, in reality, it doesn't really mean anything.

And that's because all cows for the majority of their lives, they are raised on grass, or at least are fed grass, might be in a barn eating hay, but it's still grass. And only towards the end, some, or the majority of cows in the conventional system, are then finished on grain, whereas a smaller percentage remain on grass.

And so, the much better terminology to look for is really grass finished, versus grain finished. Grass fed itself doesn't really mean much, you know. Uh, a calf that was just weaned from mama cannot eat grain without getting sick and ultimately probably dying, you know, so they, they need, most cows need to eat grass for a good portion of their life, you know, that's just, you know, how it is.

So grass fed again, not a very meaningful term that is. So, let's talk about the benefits, you know, and whenever throughout the rest of this episode, if I say grass fed I really mean grass finished, right? And if I say grain fed, I mean grain finished. Just to make this, uh, the terminology clear, but studies have shown, and I'm going to link many of the resources down in the show notes and the description.

Studies have shown that grass fed, grass finished beef has significantly more vitamin A and E.

We've also seen that grass fed beef has up to four times more omega 3 fatty acids and a more favorable ratio between omega 6 and omega 3. For example, grass fed meat has a ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 of approximately 2 to 1. So there are twice as much omega 6 than omega 3 in the beef. Whereas conventionally raised beef has a ratio of 9 to 1.

So 9 times more omega 6 than omega 3. And that is important because, first of all, too many PUFAs, too many polyunsaturated fatty acids, are problematic and not necessarily good for your health. But in particular, if you have significantly more of the omega 6s, that's a bad thing because they are pro inflammatory above certain amounts.

Now, the good news is, Beef overall has a relatively, has relatively low amounts of PUFAs in general. So yes, there is a discrepancy between grass fat and grass finished and grain finished beef. But since the overall, the total amounts are relatively low, that is probably one of the things that I wouldn't sweat too much about, you know, Now, the other thing that we have seen is, grass fed beef has twice as much conjugated linoleic acid.

So again, from a fatty acid, from a fatty acid profile perspective, grass fed beef is clearly the better choice. Now, it's not only the fats that are different, and that's something that I just recently learned, but also the amino acid composition, or the amounts of amino acids, the amino acid content in grass fed, grass finished beef.

is up to 76 percent better or has a higher amino acid content than grain finished beef. That's interesting because one of the reasons I consume beef predominantly is because of the, you know, the protein, fat as well, but mostly the protein. Studies have also shown that. Grass fed, grass finished beef has up to 64 percent more antioxidants and phytochemicals, like, uh, glutathione and superoxide dismutase.

And that's interesting, because a lot of the folks that, you know, follow a plant based diet argue that, you know, they do that because of the phytochemicals in plants, you know? And it's true that some of those phytochemicals have anti carcinogenic and cardiovascular protective properties. So they can potentially reduce the risk of developing cancer and protect your cardiovascular system.

And that's why a lot of people follow plant based diets because of those phytochemicals that help, you know, protect against those issues. Now here's the thing, if you've been following me for a while, you also know that plants also have a ton of chemicals that are not good for your health. Antinutrients, you know, phytoestrogens, etc.

And so consuming plants to get phytochemicals that might be good for you, while still getting a bunch of chemicals that are bad for you, is not really a smart idea, you know. Instead, you can consume well raised meat or meat from well raised animals to get the same phytochemicals without any of the issues, without any of the downsides of consuming plants.

So that's something that's worth considering. The other thing with grass finished beef is it's typically lower in calories because it has less fat. Now, I don't know if that's necessarily An advantage just because it has fewer calories. I don't mind calories, especially not if they come from meat, from fat and protein of animal based sources.

But the reason why it has less fat is because, you know, if you finish a cow on grains, you know, the meat becomes more marbled. That, you know, one could argue improves the flavor. But it really means that, you know, the cow was getting fat and obese. So the idea or the goal of, of grain finishing really is to increase the weight as much as possible and part of that is because it increases also the fat content within the muscle meat.

And so you'll get that marbling, but it really means you're already getting to stages of, you know, metabolic dysfunction because the cow is not supposed to be that fat. And grow that quickly in a short amount of time. Speaking of growing, you know, and that's really, that's an important consideration, um, both from a consumer perspective, as well as from a farmer's perspective, grass finishing beef takes somewhere between 20 to 24 months.

So up to two years to finish beef. Or to finish a cow on, on grass, on only pasture. Finishing a cow on grains takes 13 to 15 months. So it's significantly faster, you know, almost twice as fast. And there are a couple of considerations, obviously from a farmer's perspective, you know, the, the quicker you can, you can slaughter the cow, the quicker you can make money.

So it makes economic sense from a firming perspective, you know? If you take the environmental factors and everything else, you know, not into account. But from a nutrition perspective, from a consumer perspective, that's also relevant, because if you think about it, if a cow can consume for almost a year longer plants that contain those phytochemicals and antioxidants and all of the things that the cow can then deposit in the meat that you end up eating, Then it becomes relatively clear why that meat is more nutritious, you know, it can, because there is more of that stuff consumed by the cow that then ends up in the meat and ultimately in your body and in your stomach, you know, um, the big downside of grass fed, grass finished meat is obviously the cost it's more expensive in some cases, significantly more expensive depending on, you know, the cut you look at, you know, especially with steaks.

Grass fed, grass finished steak, ridiculously expensive and out of reach for a lot of people, you know, and we'll talk about this, but there is another nuance to the discussion and that is the difference between, so let's imagine, you know, you have a huge paddock, you know, acres and acres and acres of pasture and you let a horde of cows out there and they stay on that same paddock for all their life, you know, for the whole 24 months, let's say.

Now here's the thing, you know, all animals eat dessert first, meaning that they eat the most succulent plants, or the cows eat the most succulent plants first. and leave everything, you know, for someone else to eat, you know, so they are feed diversity is somewhat limited. Also the way they, they disrupt the, the soil that they work, the soil is also limited because they poop where they eat.

And if they only eat certain in certain areas, because that's where the plants are growing, that they like best, then they only deposit, they deposit a lot of poop in that area, but maybe nothing in other areas. So from a soil quality perspective, You know, just having one large pasture, regardless of how large the pasture is and how many cows you have, but it leads to less, fewer improvements in terms of soil quality and ultimately also then to a less.

nutritious meat than if you were to regeneratively raise and rotationally graze the animal. And what that basically means is moving the animals from one paddock to another, in some cases, even on a, you know, twice a day or on a daily basis, or, you know, within three days or so. But the idea really is that you give them just enough grass, enough feed, So they have to eat everything before they are moved on to the next paddock, and that means a much greater feed diversity.

They consume a wider variety of plants because they need to eat everything to satisfy their appetite rather than just picking and choosing. It also leads to improved soil quality because they evenly distribute the manure and work that stuff into the soil with their hoofs, etc. So that goes more into the regenerative aspect where you regenerate, you know, the soil quality and improve soil quality.

And that also leads them to a better nutritional profile of the meat. So there is really, there are really three categories. If you look at it, there is conventionally raised, there is, you know, grass fed, grass finished, and then there is grass fed, grass finished, but also with the regenerative rotational grazing aspect taken into account.

And those three categories really lead to Um, different nutritional profiles. Now, what I've mentioned before in terms of, you know, all of the, you know, more vitamin A and E and antioxidant, et cetera, you know, that applies to the combination of grass fed, grass finished as well as regenerative, but you can get even more or you're at a higher end of those numbers if you buy meat from cows that have been regeneratively raised, right?

So you, there is definitely. a difference in micro and macro nutrients between those different types of beef. Now, what if you can't afford, you know, grass fed, grass furnished, regeneratively raised, you know, the top of the line beef? I mean, if you go to Whole Foods or whatever and you look at a, you know, at the high, highest quality steak that they sell or even go to a local farm, you know, and get a couple of ribeyes, it's ridiculously expensive, you know?

So the question is, what do you do if you can't do that? If all you can afford is, you know, the beef they sell at Costco, you know, the regular, conventionally raised, grain finished, um, USDA choice beef, is that better, or is, is that, is it better to not eat beef at all, if that's the only option, and I would argue that any beef, with some exceptions, is better than no beef, you know, so if you, my recommendation is to purchase the best, Meat you can afford.

For some that's grass fed, grass finished, regeneratively raised, the whole nine yards. For some it's, you know, the meat from Costco, or from other places, doesn't really matter. There are a few things that I would look out for. One is, you know, make sure, you know, that meat has not seen any antibiotics, you know.

The truth is that most brands now, regardless of what grocery store you go to, You know, they've, they've all realized that consumers don't want to buy beef that, you know, where the cow has been exposed to antibiotics, you know, so that's one thing then, you know, there are obviously, you know, certain vaccines, you know, mRNA, et cetera, that are now getting into the picture, you know, I would recommend, you know, trying to stick with, with meats that have not been exposed to those chemicals, those, you know, pharmaceuticals, you know, and that applies really to most of the meat or a lot of the meat that you can find in stores.

So that's number one, you know, buy the best meat you can afford. The difference in nutrients does exist. Absolutely. But you can potentially make that up with then buying, you know, pastured eggs, you know, from your local farmer, uh, or, you know, from the store, you can maybe make that up by consuming. You know, organ meats, which are typically less expensive cuts of the animal that you can find for significantly less than a ribeye, you know, organ meats, great source of micronutrients and many of those phytochemicals and other things that, you know, you would get from the muscle meat as well.

Um, you know, free stride options. I mean, one of the reasons we started with MK supplements is to bridge those gaps that you might not be able to bridge because of financial reasons or whatever the case might be. You know, so you can mitigate a lot of that if you cannot afford the best type of meat, you know, the other thing is stick to less expensive cuts, you know, there is no need from a nutritional perspective to eat ribeye every day, you know, or a steak in general every day, you can make roasts, you can, you know, buy organ meats, I mean, with roasts in particular, and some of the potentially You know, tougher cuts, but also much less expensive cuts.

You throw them in a slow cooker, invest in a slow cooker, costs you, I don't know, 50 bucks, you know, once. And every type of meat you can throw in a slow cooker comes out tender and, and soft and not chewy at all. So that would be my recommendation, you know, buy roasts, you know, even ground meat is usually significantly less expensive.

then a steak or some of the other cuts. There are grocery stores like Aldi and Walmart, and I have separate videos on that that I can link to in the show notes, that offer grass fed, grass finished meat. For a reasonable price. Yes, some of it comes from New Zealand, you know, it might come from Argentina.

Um, some of it, I think in the case of Walmart, if I remember correctly, it's actually domestic meat, you know. So you can get that at a very reasonable price of half, you know, of what you would pay for at other places. And in some cases, I mean, just to give you the example of the ground meat at Aldi and Walmart.

It's cost like five bucks here in Georgia, you know, it might be different in California and other places, but 5 for a pound of ground meat, that's at the level of conventionally raised meat, you know, so it gets very close. It might be still a little bit more expensive, but very, very doable, you know, um, and, um, Again, not eating meat or eating meat alternatives, you know, be it lab grown or, you know, plant based meat or whatever, is certainly worse than just buying regular, conventionally raised meat in the store at Costco or whatever.

The other thing you can do is, I mean, at Costco to a degree, buy in bulk, right? That's one of the reasons Costco exists. But what I really mean by that is you can find a quarter, half, or even an entire cow, you know, there are farms usually, I mean, here in Georgia, there are farms around us, there are places online where you can order, um, a quarter of a cow, half a cow or an entire cow and get the meat at a discounted price, you know, instead of buying, you know, three pounds per week or whatever you buy, you know, 80, 200, 400 pounds of meat.

And you get it at a discount. And that's usually what we do. You know, uh, up until now we've been buying an entire cow each year from a local farm here. And that drops the average price approximately to, I think, 9, 10, 11 dollars a pound, you know, across, you know, all the different cuts. That's very reasonable, or at least significantly more reasonable if we were to buy, you know, the individual, uh, cuts in the store.

Now, last but not least, that's not really something you can do quickly, or it might not even be initially more inexpensive, but consider, you know, at some point, you know, buying some land and raising your own animals, because at the end of the day, what does a cow need? Grass so that means you need water from rain ideally, you know to in sunshine, you know, those things are typically free You know, you obviously need to invest in the land initially you need fencing Um, and that's pretty much what your cow needs, you know, and time, obviously your time, you know, to move the cow from pasture to pasture every day, um, and to get the best meat possible.

And that's one of the things that, well, that's exactly what we are doing here at the Kummer Homestead, not yet with cattle because we don't have the space, but starting with next year or 2026, we'll be raising our own cows for exactly that reason. And that really sums it up. So the bottom line is, yes, grass fed, grass finished meat is nutritionally superior over conventionally raised, grain finished beef.

Um, but the differences are not big enough for you to say, you know what, if I can't have the grass fed, grass finished, or I can't afford it, I'm, I'm gonna eat something else. Something else is definitely not better than conventionally raised meat. So think about that. Obviously, you know, take, you know, animal welfare, you know, environmental factors, all of the things into account.

But at the end of the day, You know, if you need to feed yourself to maintain optimal health, you know, do what you can, buy the best you can, and don't worry about the rest. I hope you liked this episode, and I hope I'll see you in the next one.