You can go to hell if you think I’m giving this up.
For those who aren’t familiar with Alan Aragon, he is one of the (very) few fitness / nutritional writers I keep up with. He writes a monthly research review at www.alanaragon.com I highly recommend. It’s $10 a month and worth it.
In one of his recent reviews he goes into detail about grass-fed beef. I don’t want to plagiarize his content so go sign up for a more detailed look. However, I want to highlight one aspect of his argument and continue my own from there.
The biggest argument I typically see for grass-fed beef is the notion it’s superior in omega-3 fatty acids (the type you find in fish oil) because grain (corn) fed beef is pervasive with omega-6 fatty acids.
Grass = more omega 3s and less omega 6’s; corn / grain = less omega 3s and more omega 6s.
This is where I’ll steal from Aragon a bit:
“It’s important to note that although grass-fed beef has a higher concentration of omega-3 than grain-fed beef, it still only amounts to slightly below one percent of the beef’s total fatty acid content.”
More specifically, Aragon cites research showing regular beef contains .24 g/100 g of omega 3’s while grass fed contains .88 g / 100 g.
As I’ve mentioned in Does the difference matter?, this is an instance where many would go, “Look, look! Grass-fed beef has over 3 times as many omega-3s as regular fed beef!”
However, when you look at the absolute difference, and add some context to boot:
453 grams (1 pound of beef)=> 453 / 100 = 4.53 * .24 = 1.08 grams omega-3s per pound of regular beef.
4.53 * .88 g = 3.98 grams omega-3s per pound of grass fed beef.
1.08 compared to 3.98
You realize these clueless fucks are arguing over 2 grams of omega 3s, and that’s IF you are eating an entire pound of beef each day.
Go take about 2 fish oil pills at a whopping 25 cents (or whatever it is) per pill rather than spending 5 dollars extra (or whatever) per pound of beef, and you’ll be fine. Of course, if you’re the type of person who is eating grass-fed beef chances are you’re already supplementing with fish oil. So congratulations on pissing your money away.
Point being this difference is easily made up for, it’s likely not worth worrying about anyways, and grass-fed beef -and beef for that matter- is a crappy source of omega 3s to begin with.
Never mind the fact Aragon goes into a bunch of detail of how grass-fed beef essentially has no health benefits over regular beef.
And never mind the fact grass-fed / organic beef / food is WORSE for the environment.
Finally, remember if you’re eating grass-fed beef because that’s how cows are supposed to eat, well, by your logic, you should be hunting cows because that’s how we’re supposed to get our food, and you should eat it raw because that’s how we’re supposed to eat it….
Or you should just stop propagating nutritional fallacies you have no concept of.
Stop wasting your money on grass-fed beef (and other organic crap) and start utilizing it on far more exhilarating items, like alcohol. Me and my delicious corn-fed, bacon cheeseburger will see you at the bar.
Wait, did paleoman have bars?
Sarah
November 2, 2012
Bahaha! Now write one on organic food.
Ben Bachmann
November 4, 2012
Oh Jesus…this argument again? Can I see the studies and science behind GMO corn-fed beef being better for the environment than grass fed? I agree with you on the omega-3 and 6 stuff but there is more to grass fed beef than the PUFA ratios. If you had done some more research and learned more about this stuff this asinine article would have never been written.
reddyb
November 4, 2012
This argument again? I’ve never written about grass-fed beef and omega 3s. Knowing you paleo people, that was likely a dream you were having about some meat.
So, now you’re conceding one of your holy grails -grass-fed beef is better because of omega 3s- is false by stating you agree with me. This is the thing, it’s not a matter of agreeing with me, it’s a matter of agreeing with scientific fact.
Also, what other benefits are there then? Maybe you should go read the entire research review from Aragon, or the research itself, before you catch yourself making more false claims.
How about YOU provide ONE single iota of evidence for your assertions. I’ve provided you with a plethora and all you continue to do is quote verbatim your gods Loren Cordain / Dr. Oz or whomever. All the while ignoring things like how the same guy (Cordain) wrote another entire book for athletes that contradicted his first.
I’ll do this one more time though as I’m feeling generous:
How does organic food hurt the environment? Here’s a nice, thorough breakdown:
http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/11/14/the-inefficiency-of-local-food/
And a formal study: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070606113311.htm
How does grass-fed beef hurt the environment? Here you go:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X10000399
And this one, which quotes the above study:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40934/title/AAAS_Climate-friendly_dining_%E2%80%A6_meats
“We do see significant differences in the GHG intensities [of grass vs grain finishing]. It’s roughly on the order of 50 percent higher in grass-finished systems.”
And this, which puts it into more reader friendly terms:
http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2010/04/08/grass-fed-beef-packs-a-punch-to-environment/
Notable quotes from the above article:
“These demonstrated virtues (of grass fed beef), however, pale in comparison to overwhelming environmental liabilities.”
“To begin with, there is greenhouse gas emissions, the argument most often invoked to promote grass-feeding. Yet grass-fed meat is more, not less, greenhouse-gas intensive.”
“What we need is not grass fed cattle, but quantitative sophistication that readily distinguishes elixirs like grass feeding from actual environmental solutions.”
Oh, this organic stuff can hurt people too. You know that whole pesticide thing? Yeah, they were invented for a reason. One example:
http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/06/13/the-cost-of-eating-organic-food-or-will-e-coli-increase-our-appetite-for-irradiated-food/
And don’t forget you simply cannot feed 7 billion people without the advent of modern agriculture.
Seriously, unless you read all of the above and come back with a rational argument from your side, I’m done rebutting and I’ll likely just delete your comment. While my article may be “asinine,” your asinine brain is imprinting a bigger carbon foot print than necessary and making the readers of this site dumber.
On a random note to all: I think my favorite aspect of paleoman is the fact I often find them making their case with me at a bar, with a beer in their hands. When I bring this up to them and ask them how paleoman conjured up alcohol, they become analogous to someone with tourettes. Arms flailing; “Oh, well, you know, uh, yeah, that’s different. I only do this once a week.”
(Figures. Anyone who only drinks once a week is someone I don’t want to hang out with anyways.)
Their own hypocrisy is completely incomprehensible to them. Of course, I know you never drink beer, Ben…
Ben Bachmann
November 4, 2012
You may have not attacked grass fed beef specifically, but we had a drawn out argument discussing paleo nutrition about 6 months ago where I already explained and clarified many of these beliefs (as seen here: http://b-reddy.org/2012/02/06/the-other-side-of-logical-eating/). I’m sorry that you spoke to some douche bag who claimed to be paleo at a bar once, but the core fundamental principals of the diet are sound – unless you deny evolution, then I suppose you could frame an argument.
Furthermore:
A) I have never claimed a paleo diet could “feed the world”
B) Paleo is NOT a historical reenactment of what a “caveman” would do, rather it looks at what diet we are genetically predisposed to eat. Birds eat grains, lions eat meat, humans eat a balance sans grains/legumes and dairy.
C) I have not drank beer in over 2 years, nor have I knowingly consumed any gluten in over 2 years.
I appreciate you posting these articles, as I do love reading information that counters what I believe. I will be reading these and offering feedback soon. Please keep my comments so that we can have an open forum and maybe learn something from each other. End of the day – I think we are both right, and both wrong:
You are right – paleo does get made into a religion by some, and the benefits of local/organic/grass-fed are exaggerated at times, but I don’t think you fully understand what paleo is about – nor have you given a shot for any extended period of time.
Joe
November 5, 2012
Solution, if you have problems with the environmental effects on beef, then don’t eat beef at all, organic of otherwise (like me). Yes, I drive a car, ride planes, do plenty of of things that are not good for the environment, but one has to drawn lines in life. Mine is no beef.
That said, another great post. Always chock full of information!
reddyb
November 5, 2012
Fair point Joe. Thanks for the words.