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We’re proud that our beef liver capsules and collagen supplements are derived from grass-fed beef. It’s part of our ethos of delivering the highest quality. It’s a commitment we will not compromise on.
This naturally raises the question, why is grass-fed beef better? Queue up the grass-fed vs grain-fed debate! The diet of the cows we source our supplements from influences the overall health of the animals and therefore, the nutritional content they ultimately deliver.
Why grass-fed beef is healthier? Grass-fed meat contains more omega fatty acids, with greater ratios; has lower fat content; is richer in vitamins and antioxidants; and contains higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid. This is why our beef liver capsules and collagen powder’s are bursting with goodness.
However, a superior nutrient density isn’t the only reason. Other driving factors include grass-fed cows living with higher animal welfare standards, which keeps them healthier and mitigates the need for antibiotics.
Grass-fed cows have less of an environmental impact, and in fact, can even be carbon neutral through regenerative farming practices and carbon sequestering.
Cows are ruminants, with this group of animals including bison, buffalos, sheep, deer, antelope, camels, alpacas and even giraffes to name a few.
These animals have been part of the ecosystem for time in millennia, with most species even co-evolving with grasslands.
They are anatomically designed to consume grass with their four stomachs being purpose built to digest the fibrous and cellulose rich plant-material.
On the other hand, grain-fed cows not only receive an unnatural diet, often consisting of corn and soy. This diet is more likely to result in illness, which is often counteracted with antibiotics. Sourcing meat and organs from antibiotics free cows is important as residual levels can remain in their meat upon consumption.
So, let’s look at each of the benefits in more detail.
The nutritional content of your food is important, with this being particularly important when it comes to food supplements. I mean, after all, what is the point of taking food supplements that contain subpar nutrients?
As fundamental of a point as this sounds, not all brands have stringent standards or are reputable enough to hold to these quality benchmarks.
As noted, grass-fed meat has several nutritional advantages over that of its grain-fed counterparts.
Omega fatty acids are known for their awesome benefits of supporting brain development and mental health but they also support heart health, lower blood pressure, weight management and reduce inflammation.
Although omega fatty acids are more associated with fish than meat, meats like beef contain omega-3 and omega-6, especially when from grass-fed sources.
Omega fatty acids are forms of polyunsaturated fat and is an essential fatty acid. This means that our bodies cannot endogenously produce them, and they must be derived from our diets.
Not only does grass-fed beef contain more omega-3 fatty acid (up to 5x more than grain-fed), but this increase in omega-3 improves the ratio to omega-6. This is important because a healthy ratio of omega-6 to 3 should ideally be 1:1, which is what it is believed our ancestors ate.
In western diets, with lower quality, and processed meats this ratio is typically around 15:1! This means western diets are typically deficient in omega-3.
This high ratio has been found to make diseases such as cardiovascular problems, cancer, autoimmune issues and inflammation more common. A lower ratio with more omega-3 has a suppressive effect on these pathologies.
Grass-fed beef also contains a lower overall fat and cholesterol content than its grain-fed alternative.
The vitamin content of grass-fed and grain-fed beef is similar. However, where they diverge is in their precursors for vitamin A and antioxidant content, including vitamin E.
Fat-soluble vitamins A and E are absorbed by fat, with grass-fed beef containing healthy fats.
Antioxidants contained in greater quantities in grass-fed beef include catalase, glutathione and superoxide dismutase, which are important for neutralising harmful free radicals.
Vitamin A is essential for maintaining healthy vision, supporting immune function, and ensuring the proper growth and development of cells in the body, as well as contributing to the maintenance and health of skin and the mucous membranes to prevent infections.
Vitamin E acts as a powerful antioxidant, protecting cells from damage caused by free radicals and is vital to maintaining a healthy immune system. It supports skin health by reducing UV-induced damage and improving skin barrier function.
An antioxidant is a substance that helps protect our cells from damage caused by free radicals—unstable molecules that can harm cellular structures.
Through the neutralisation of harmful free radicals, they reduce oxidative stress and thereby lowering the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
CLA is a naturally occurring fatty acid found primarily in ruminant derived meat and dairy. Grass-fed beef contains 2-3 times more CLA as grain-fed sources.
It is also known as having a modest effect on weight loss, with it often being used in weight loss supplements.
Long-term observational studies have also suggested that CLA can lower the risk of diseases, like cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as reduce inflammation.
Cows are thought to have evolved from wild ox 10,500 years ago in the vast open expanses of the Near Eastern steppe which would have benefitted from an endless supply of grasses, herbs, flora and roughages.
In this environment, with abundant access to grazing, it influenced cows’ ancestor’s anatomical evolution.
To efficiently digest the tough, fibrous grasses, cows evolved a specialised digestive system with a four-chambered stomach, including the rumen, which allows for the fermentation of plant material, to enable the extraction of proteins and carbohydrates.
Their stomachs also contain enzymes and microbes especially designed to process a grass-based diet.
Their teeth adapted, with molars becoming more capable of grinding grass, and incisors that can efficiently clip grass close to the ground.
The social behaviour of cows evolved to suit life on the open grasslands, with herd behaviours providing protection against predators. This behaviour may have made it possible to domesticate them in the first place.
With grains on the other hand, although cows do have enzymes capable of digesting them, their stomachs need to produce more acid to break down the tough outer shell to extract nutrients. This can result in a condition known as acidosis, and other health conditions.
Acidosis results in an excessive accumulation of acid in the rumen. This disrupts normal rumen function, causing a drop in pH and can lead to symptoms such as decreased feed intake, lethargy, and in severe cases, death. It is associated with high-grain diets in feedlots.
Frothy bloat, although not exclusively a result of grain-feeding, is associated with it due to the feeding conditions. Grain is often administered via feedlots which allow cows to gorge themselves. This can result in overeating, which can cause frothy bloat which can lead to asphyxiation if not remedied.
Grain feeding is also more commonplace in factory farming conditions. This is the farming practices that prioritises profit over animal welfare or the quality of the meat.
Factory farming is characterised by enclosed spaces, overcrowding and grain feeding lots. These conditions can quickly lead to unsanitary conditions making diseases more likely. To counteract this, antibiotics are often deployed in anticipation.
These more common issues for grain-fed cows typically do not exist in their grass-fed and pasture-raised counterparts who benefit from fresh air, open spaces, and interesting surroundings as well as a natural diet packed with vitamins and minerals, as nature intended.
Now, environmental benefits relating to a cow’s diet might not be the first thing you think of in the grass-fed vs grain-fed debate, but it has both direct, and indirect benefits.
Free roaming, grass grazing cows directly benefit plant and animal biodiversity, as well as promote carbon sequestering.
Cows, by grazing on, and trampling tall grasses, enable sunlight to reach ground-level vegetation, encouraging plant diversity and growth. Their manure also acts as a natural fertiliser that enriches the soil.
Removing tall grasses also removes hiding places for insect life and fauna, which supports predatory species and the feeding up the food-chain.
Carbon sequestering is the process of capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide and storing it in ‘carbon sinks’ to offset its effects on climate change. It occurs naturally in forests, oceans, and soil as they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
Our grasslands sequester ~30% of earth’s carbon pool. Through photosynthesis, grasses draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is then absorbed into the plant and soil for storage.
Grazing cows recycle the carbon stored in plant life, and deposit this onto the land. Their manure contains nutrients needed for healthy soil, such as fungi, microbes and bacteria, which in turn encourages plant life and further carbon sequestering, and the cycle continues.
Grass-fed cows can also indirectly support the environment through relieving the need for Mono-crop Agriculture (MCA). MCA is heavily needed for grain-feeding livestock.
MCA can lead to topsoil erosion because it reduces biodiversity and soil structure stability, leaving the soil more vulnerable to wind and water erosion, which diminishes its quality.
This can increase the use of synthetic fertilisers, which can be harmful to the environment because excessive use leads to runoff into waterways, causing eutrophication (nutrient overload) that depletes oxygen in the water, resulting in harm to aquatic life.
Topsoil is important to food security as ~95% of our global food is grown in the topsoil, which contains all the nutrients necessary for plant life. Topsoil is rich in nutrients due to it being derived from dead organic matter which encourages microorganism life.
If you’d like to read more on the climate related matters of beef farming, you may be interested in: Cows & Carbon Emissions: Can Livestock Farming be Sustainable? (A Review of the Arguments).
The advantages of grass-fed beef extend beyond its nutritional benefits, encompassing and encouraging aspects of animal welfare and environmental sustainability too.
Nutritionally, grass-fed beef offers a healthier nutritional profile, enriched with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, healthy fats, vitamins and antioxidants, making it a superior choice for health-conscious consumers.
From the perspective of animal welfare, grass-fed cows are allowed to thrive in more natural and interesting pasture landscapes, engaging in innate behaviours, which is also beneficial to the planet.
Grass-feeding cows supports biodiversity, enhances soil health, and contributes to the mitigation of climate change through more sustainable land use practices and carbon sequestration.
Embracing grass-fed meat farming supports a more ethical, sustainable, and environmentally conscious food system.
This is why, for our beef organ and collagen supplements, derived from grass-fed beef and we will never compromise as we believe in only using the finest ingredients to deliver the fullest nutritional punch.
If you’d like to try the supplements in our range, you can visit our shop and benefit from free shipping and £5 off your first purchase with coupon code CARNIVOR£5.
Alternatively, if you’d prefer to purchase on Amazon, our Grass-fed Beef Liver Capsules and Grass-fed Collagen Peptides are available over there too – simply click the link highlighted in the product titles.
If you’d like to read more, the below link will take you onto our other blogs.
The Carnivore Diet Benefits: Your Double Sexy Guide to Thrive (on Meat)
Not so Offal? Organ’s v ‘Superfoods’ & The Top 10 (Research-backed) Benefits
Collagen Peptides: The Tiny Proteins Making Massive Waves & 8 Science-Backed Benefits
Cows & Carbon Emissions: Can Livestock Farming be Sustainable? (a Review of the Arguments)
5 Delicious Grass Fed Liver Recipes – Your Ultimate Guide to Beef Liver
Beef Liver Benefits: Why This King of the Superfoods Belongs in Your Diet
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