I'm sure you're seeing products made from beef tallow everywhere, but why?
You may even see some recipes calling for tallow or lard as an ingredient instead of vegetable oil. Isn't that too much fat and unhealthy?
I'll share my research with you, and we can decide together!
Let's compare the refining process, nutritional differences, and environmental impact of seed oils and tallow.
How Seed Oils are Made
Oil seeds which are commonly canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil, go through a three-step clarification process before they are ready to be bottled.
RefiningThe oil is treated with phosphoric acid to remove any gums from the oil, then caustic soda is added to remove free fatty acids.
Bleaching
"Filter aids" are added to remove impurities and color from the oil.
Deodorizing
Finally, the oil is heated to 480 degrees beneath a vacuum. The resulting steam bubbles remove any remaining free fatty acids and impurities.
In order to make beef tallow, solid beef fat goes through a simple rendering process.
The fat is slowly heated to melt into a golden liquid, which is then strained and allowed to reharden.
This process may be repeated a number of times to ensure an odorless and clean tallow.
Nutritional Differences
While seeds contain antioxidants like Vitamin E, the heating to deodorize the oils often removes all of these healthy benefits.
Seed oils also contain an unbalanced level of Omega-6's. A small amount of these is required for our bodies, but the high ratio found in seed oils can lead to inflammation in the body.
Unfortunately, these highly processed oils are found in most packaged foods.
While they may not be harmful in moderation, consider the reliance that most of us have on packaged and processed foods. This leads to an overconsumption and therefore inflammation.
On the other hand, beef tallow can be very high in fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These contribute to things like immune response, bone health, and blood clotting. Tallow also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which reduces inflammation in the body and can help prevent plaque buildup in arteries.
This is especially true with grass-fed cattle! Grass-fed cows who graze fresh lush forage have an even higher level of these important vitamins.
Enviromental Impact
When considering the environmental implications of seed oils vs tallow, the issue can become multifaced.
I like to consider the source that each of the oils come from. What is the source?
Seeds to make oil are typically a monoculture crop that take lots of heavy machinery to harvest, plus chemicals to control insects and plant disease.
Better practices like organic and/or regenerative farming can help reduce these environmental burdens, but it is still a crop that is grown for the intention of oil.
Tallow is a biproduct of a beef animal that has also provided hundreds of pounds of meat to nourish people. By utilizing the tallow, a product that may be wasted is instead given a purpose.
Just like the seed oils, tallow from grain fed animals in feed lots can have negative environmental impacts. Buying tallow from small farms who use regenerative practices can mean that the cows are helping restore soil and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
So, what does all of this mean?
I believe that the first step is trying to reduce the amount of processed foods that we eat on a daily basis. This can help us reduce the long list of ingredients found in our food, including preservatives, flavors, and seed oils.
Around the farm, we like to eat most of our food the way that it came from the Earth... including our oils! We eliminate the processed foods when we can and utilize tallow from our cattle.
Here are a few of my resources if you want to check them out for yourself :)
Why Seed Oils Might Be Bad for You (clevelandclinic.org)
The pros and cons of seed oils, and how to incorporate them in your diet - Mayo Clinic Press
What is beef tallow? Is it good for me? - Mayo Clinic Press