A new review article compares them. Here is most important info, as far as I’m concerned:
A healthy diet should consist of roughly one to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 11 to 30 times more omega -6 fatty acids than omega -3, a phenomenon that has been hypothesized as a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States [40]. Table 2 shows significant differences in n-6:n-3 ratios between grass-fed and grain-fed beef, with and overall average of 1.53 and 7.65 for grass-fed and grain-fed, respectively, for all studies reported in this review.
Grass-fed really is better.
And tastes better, too! But you have to remember to cook it at lower temps than grain fed beef. I’ve made some remarkable grass-fed beef in my Sous Vide Supreme.
Wow, feeding cattle original developmental fuel yields a superior food. Who wudda thunk. Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. I agree with Aaron the taste is superior. I can’t even eat the grain fed stuff anymore.
No doubt that grass fed beef is better. In fact, I try to eat grass fed buffalo whenever possible rather than beef.
But to put the omega 6 question on beef in perspective: 6 oz of grain fed beef hamburger contains 600 mg of omega 6. One tablespoon of salad dressing made with soybean oil contains 14,000 mg of omega 6.
So the omega 6 problem is not meat, it is the industrial vegetable oils.
Not only are grass fed cattle better for you, they can reduce gases attributed to the supposed global warming:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7564682/Cows-absolved-of-causing-global-warming-with-nitrous-oxide.html
You generalize too much. If you are talking about soy or corn oil you are right, they are no good. But rapeseed oil and olive oil have a healthy omega 3/6 quotient. And if you look at something like linseed or sunflower seed oil they look more like omega 3 supplements than like corn oil.
Where does one find this “grass fed beef”? Both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, at least in Palo Alto, will certify only that their best cuts of beef were fed a “vegetarian diet.”
At the Berkeley Whole Foods, I can get buffalo, which they tell me is grass-fed. I also buy grass-fed beef at farmer’s markets.
Vegetarian diet would also include corn (stating the obvious here). I don’t know you “guys’” situations, but you may look for a local ranch for your beef needs. There has been a trend toward smaller cattle, so smaller ranchers are raising beef. It is much less expensive to buy beef by 1/4, 1/2 or whole and you don’t have to go to the store as often; although you do need a freezer. Email me if you would like some help or more information
Anyone aware of a similar study in poultry? I’m not a beef-eater, but I do like my chicken and turkey.
We’ve all got to start requesting (demanding) grass fed beef or the companies that produce the meat will take the quickest, cheapest option to get meat ready for slaughter. Currently that cheap option is the force feeding of a cocktail of corn, protein and antibiotics …
No wonder outbreaks of E-Coli are on the rise when the prevalence of the E-Coli bacteria in cattle is increased by feeding them corn – newsflash – cattle are grass eaters – and then we wonder why E-Coli is on the rise in things like spinach … It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to work out that the run-off from cattle farms makes its way to other farms in many different ways.
Wake up America! Do something … Write a letter to your congressman/woman. Get the lobbyists out of congress. Vote with your wallet. Spread the word to your friends.