CLA's in Grass-fed and finished Beef
What is CLA?
CLA’s, or Conjugated Linoleic Acids, are a relatively recently discovered essential fatty acid that is rumored to have some pretty incredible capabilities. Dr. Talak Dhiman of Utah State University contends that CLA’s may be one of our most marvelous curative discoveries. Animal studies suggest that CLA’s may be responsible for the following beneficial properties:
- Anti Carcinogen
- Prevention of Obesity
- Anti Diabetic
- Anti-atherosclerosis (Heart Disease)
Of all the animal studies conducted, 100% of them found that additional CLA’s in the diet decrease the occurrence of cancer. Eighty percent of the studies found a decrease in body fat, 75% showed a decrease in the occurrence of adult diabetes. A French Study even concluded that, of 360 women participants, all found that a higher level of CLA’s found in their breast tissue directly correlated to a lower occurrence of breast cancer.
CLA’s, or Conjugated Linoleic Acids, are a relatively recently discovered essential fatty acid that is rumored to have some pretty incredible capabilities. Dr. Talak Dhiman of Utah State University contends that CLA’s may be one of our most marvelous curative discoveries. Animal studies suggest that CLA’s may be responsible for the following beneficial properties:
- Anti Carcinogen
- Prevention of Obesity
- Anti Diabetic
- Anti-atherosclerosis (Heart Disease)
Of all the animal studies conducted, 100% of them found that additional CLA’s in the diet decrease the occurrence of cancer. Eighty percent of the studies found a decrease in body fat, 75% showed a decrease in the occurrence of adult diabetes. A French Study even concluded that, of 360 women participants, all found that a higher level of CLA’s found in their breast tissue directly correlated to a lower occurrence of breast cancer.
SonRise Ranch Rainbow. Our cattle eat three things...
1. Grass
2. Grass
3. Grass
So, where do you find products that contain a high level of CLA’s? Well, a couple of places... first, you can find CLA’s commercially available in capsule form in your local health food store. There is a better alternative, you guessed it – Beef. Naturally occurring CLA’s are found to be 600 times more effective than artificially occurring CLA’s (pill form). The best way to accumulate CLA’s in the tissue is through the consumption of Beef and Milk. But here is the cool part, there are 500% more CLA’s in Grass-Fed Beef than in Grain-Fed Beef.
Now, here is where it gets dicey… in pastured animals, CLA’s are very volatile. It takes a lifetime to accumulate high levels of CLA’s in their tissue, but as little as five days to deplete it. So, if you are buying Grass-Fed Beef with the intention of consuming more CLA’s, the animal must have a completely Grass-Fed diet. In a Utah study, when animals were fed even a small amount of grain, they had less than half of the CLA content found on animals fed an entirely pastured (no hay, silage, chop or grain) diet.
Now, here is where it gets dicey… in pastured animals, CLA’s are very volatile. It takes a lifetime to accumulate high levels of CLA’s in their tissue, but as little as five days to deplete it. So, if you are buying Grass-Fed Beef with the intention of consuming more CLA’s, the animal must have a completely Grass-Fed diet. In a Utah study, when animals were fed even a small amount of grain, they had less than half of the CLA content found on animals fed an entirely pastured (no hay, silage, chop or grain) diet.
So, when Whole Foods, Sprouts or Butcher Box sells you "Grass-fed" beef and uses the USDA exemption for hay and grain feeding, which still allows them to call it "Grass-fed", or, when the guys selling "Green-fed" (a play on words) feed spent beer grains from the local brewery to their cattle and pass it off to you - you miss out on all those wonderful CLA's - ouch!
This is one of the reasons we don’t feed any supplements – we want the most benefit from the grass and beef we raise – including all the CLA’s we can get!
This is one of the reasons we don’t feed any supplements – we want the most benefit from the grass and beef we raise – including all the CLA’s we can get!