Grain-fed vs. Grass-fed beef

The only reason someone would grain-finish an animal is because of cost—they can make more money off of it. But what about the nutrient density of grain-finished and grass-finished beef?

First off, a scientist from this research project noted that the muscle meat from a grass-finished cow mimicked a healthy athlete. However, the grain-finished muscle mimicked a person with metabolic syndrome.

Grain-finished beef has

• More inflammatory markers

• Higher uric acid levels

• Higher homocysteine levels

• Higher advanced glycated end products

• Higher amounts of niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3)

Grass-finished beef has

• Higher omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA)

• Higher amount of phytonutrients

• Higher microbial diversity

• Higher amounts of niacin (a form of vitamin B3)

• Higher vitamin C levels

• Higher vitamin E levels

• Higher antitumor biomarkers

• Higher choline

• Higher carnosine

Dr. Berg's opinion

Hands down, not only were there more nutrients in the grass-fed, grass-finished beef, there were better metabolic biomarkers—which measure the overall health of the muscle.After this research is done, they need to do the next level of the study, which is to determine if consuming a healthier animal product makes a difference on a person's health.Keep in mind that something is better than nothing. If you can't do grass-fed, grass-finished beef, it's still good to get on the keto diet.The most important thing is to keep your carbs low. Do what you can, and don't worry about the quality at first. The benefits of doing a low-carb diet are huge.

Ketonia dietitian expert

Grass-fed cows eat (mainly) grass, while grain-fed cows eat (mainly) an unnatural diet based on corn and soy during the latter part of their live.Many studies have shown that cattle finished on pasture produce higher quantities of Vitamin E in the final meat product than cattle fed high concentrate diets. Researchers studied the effects of grass-feeding on the beta-carotene content of beef. They discovered that pasture-fed steers incorporated significantly higher amounts of beta-carotene into muscle tissues than grain-fed animals. Grass-fed beef may contain less total fat than grain-fed beef, but a lot more omega-3 fatty acids and CLA are linked to health benefits. Also, they produced a more favorable omega-6 to omega-3 ratio than grain-fed beef.

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