What’s the Beef With Beef Tallow?

Social media has been flooded with advertisements and influencers touting the benefits of beef tallow, claiming it does everything from improving skin conditions to healing the gut.

President-elect Donald Trump’s visit to a Pennsylvania McDonald’s during his campaign pushed beef tallow further into the spotlight because McDonald’s used to use beef tallow to make its fries.

“People who enjoy a burger with fries on a night out aren’t to blame, and Americans should have every right to eat out at a restaurant without being unknowingly poisoned by heavily subsidized seed oils. It’s time to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,” he wrote.

So what is beef tallow, and where did it go?

What Is Tallow?

Simply put, beef tallow is rendered beef fat, although it can also come from deer, lamb, or bison. It is similar to lard, but lard typically is softer, has a milder taste, and is more popular for baking. Tallow is known for its slightly beefier taste and is often used in deep-frying and to make soaps and candles. Tallow was frequently used before vegetable oils and shortenings such as Crisco came along. Once these more conveniently packaged, readily available, cheaper alternatives began appearing in the marketplace, tallow all but disappeared.

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Beef tallow also has a long shelf life, and its use is an excellent way to utilize the whole animal, a practice that has helped decrease waste and honor the life of cattle. The practice of procuring beef tallow was common for farmers just a couple of generations ago but has diminished with the increase of industrial farming.

Alleged Dangers of Saturated Fats

Tallow is primarily composed of triglycerides, almost half of which are saturated fats, which explains why it vanished from people’s pantries in the 1950s.

Doctors then began warning the public about the dangerous effects of high triglycerides, claiming they were to blame for heart attacks.

Nina Teicholz, author of the New York Times best-selling book “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet,” attests that the low-fat craze hit the nation after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended restricting full-fat foods such as dairy, eggs, and red meat to decrease the risk of heart disease. Subsequently, carbohydrate intake increased dramatically, and manufacturers began adding sugar to many foods to make them more palatable in the absence of fat. Despite the rates of heart disease remaining stagnant, the FDA guidelines were never adjusted, and to this day, cutting back on red meat is recommended.

Saturated fats also raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol—or the “good cholesterol”—more than any other type of fat, potentially mitigating the harmful effects of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad cholesterol.”

But some doctors contest that conventional wisdom altogether.

“LDL is not the prime mover in coronary artery disease,” Dr. Richard Amerling, a nephrologist specializing in chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, told The Epoch Times.

Insulin resistance is what initiates inflammation and vascular injury. Insulin is the hormone the pancreas releases to help cells utilize glucose as fuel. If the cells aren’t as efficient as they should be in taking up insulin, the pancreas produces more and more of it. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up with the demand for insulin, and blood sugar levels rise. The exact cause of insulin resistance is unknown but strongly linked to excess body weight and a sedentary lifestyle.

Chemically speaking, the saturated fats found in tallow are inherently more stable than the unsaturated ones found in vegetable oils. According to Amerling, unsaturated fats have many double bonds, which make them susceptible to oxidation and transform them into harmful compounds, especially when heated.

These vegetable oils will often sit in the fryer for days at a time and be used repeatedly. “That is horribly toxic stuff,” Amerling warned.

Furthermore, he asserted that fat, not carbs, is a superior energy source.

“It’s much more efficient. You get a lot more ATP (the molecule that fuels cells) and produce much less CO2.”

Burning fat for fuel, as opposed to carbohydrates, also alters the body’s acid–base balance, making the body less acidic.

Other Benefits of Animal Fats

Dr. Robert Kiltz, founder and director of CNY Fertility, follows a carnivore diet and credits it with reversing his cancer diagnosis.

“I do believe that adding tallow, lard, ghee, [and] butter is critical for human health, and if you simply eat less frequently, you’ll feel great,” he told The Epoch Times.

Eating less seems to go hand in hand with a higher-fat diet. Dietary fat can help with satiety, or a feeling of fullness after consuming a meal, preventing overeating, according to Lena Bakovic, a registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in gut health, chronic disease, and weight management.

Tallow’s ability to keep you feeling full may be because it is rich in fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, K, and B1. Each contributes to overall health by supporting immune function, blood clotting, vision, and bone health, said Bakovic.

Amerling and Kiltz both noted that animal-sourced foods have been a part of a healthy diet for centuries and that the country’s current health woes have nothing to do with these products in and of themselves.

“I think we likely evolved on beef or at least red fatty meat. It’s anti-inflammatory. It kills the harmful microbes in the gut,” stated Kiltz.

Furthermore, beef tallow is a source of unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been studied for its preventive effects in the progression of atherosclerotic disease.

Despite tallow’s benefits, Bakovic advised against the excessive use of beef tallow, commenting that consuming the fat regularly still could have negative health implications for some, given the high levels of saturated fat. Those with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease should be cautious.