Beef Tallow vs. Seed Oils: What's Really Healthier?
- Kim Arrey
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
This podcast was aired on the Weekends with Ken show on CJAD on July 12th 2025.
Tomorrow, July 13th, marks World Tallow Day, a celebration promoted by the Healthy Fats Coalition, an organization representing producers of animal fats like beef tallow, duck fat, ghee, and butter. With beef tallow making headlines and stirring up a lot of questions, let's dive into what you need to know about this trending fat and compare it to the often-maligned seed oils.
What Exactly is Beef Tallow?
Beef tallow is simply the fat rendered from beef fat, separating it from any meat or solids. It's a saturated fat known for its stability at high temperatures, making it a potential candidate for cooking. Nutritionally, it contains fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as Vitamin B12. Some enthusiasts also claim it's beneficial for skin health due to its chemical compatibility with human skin. However, while there are many anecdotal testimonials, scientific studies comparing tallow's effectiveness to conventional skin treatments are largely absent.
Is Eating Beef Tallow Healthy? The Tricky Bit.
This is where it gets a bit more complex. Beef tallow is primarily a saturated fat. Research dating back to the mid-1970s consistently suggests that saturated fats can increase your risk of heart disease by raising levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Organizations like the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the American Heart Association recommend that no more than 10% of your daily calories come from saturated fats, regardless of whether they're from butter, lard, or beef tallow.
However, newer research does offer some nuances. Beef tallow contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a healthy fat, and if sourced from grass-fed cows, it can also provide omega-3 fatty acids. The challenge with grass-fed beef and its by-products, however, is their high cost, making them inaccessible for many budgets. When looking for direct human studies showing benefits from eating tallow or foods fried in tallow, scientific evidence is scarce, with most supporting studies found in rats, chickens, or even puffer fish – not exactly a leap of faith for human dietary recommendations.
The Seed Oil Debate: Are They Really Unhealthy?
The current narrative often demonizes vegetable oils and seed oils, suggesting they should be replaced entirely. But what do major health organizations say?
The Heart and Stroke Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the 2021 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemia for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults all recommend diets like the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet. These eating patterns emphasize reducing animal protein and fats while increasing the consumption of plant protein and plant-based oils. Hundreds of large-scale studies support these recommendations.
Furthermore, a recent study has explicitly refuted the idea that polyunsaturated fats (found in many seed oils) directly increase inflammation and lead to health problems.
Do Seed Oils Cause Obesity?
It would be wonderfully simple if we could pinpoint a single culprit for the global obesity epidemic, but the reality is far more complex. Blaming seed oils is an oversimplified solution not supported by scientific evidence.
While it's true that the consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased alongside obesity rates, the issue isn't solely due to the type of fat in these foods. Ultra-processed foods are designed to be highly palatable, often combining excessive refined carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and sodium in ways that make them incredibly desirable and less satiating, leading to overconsumption. It's the overall composition of these foods, not just the fat source, that contributes to their impact on weight and health.
The Takeaway
While beef tallow has some interesting properties, the bulk of scientific evidence from leading health organizations continues to support the benefits of plant-based oils and diets rich in plant proteins and healthy fats, like those found in the Mediterranean and DASH eating patterns. Always consider the full dietary picture rather than focusing on a single ingredient.
Comments