Dairy: health beyond the glass

One thing that is for certain is that nothing is certain. Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement are another potential black swan facing our healthcare, our food industry and potentially our dairy industry. For those unfamiliar with MAHA, it is a bipartisan coalition aimed at cleaning up our food and reversing the quantity of chronic disease in America. What effects this movement will have on the dairy industry are yet to be known. However, in all this uncertainty, one thing we are certain of: the health benefits that dairy provides. Dairy products have long been involved in the foundation of our health. That being said, another product produced from cattle touting health benefits is once again rising from the past: tallow. 

Tallow is the rendered fat from cattle. Once a staple in households across the nation, tallow fell out of favor in the second half of the 20th century as the low-fat “diet-heart hypothesis” gained momentum. However, new research and investigation into previous studies on the “diet-heart hypothesis” is clearing tallow’s name, bringing it back into our kitchens and restaurants on our plates once again.

Tallow is primarily a saturated fat, meaning that all the carbon bonds in the molecule are saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. They are also more stable and less likely to go rancid. Other common sources of saturated fats are butter, coconut oil and palm oil. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Olive oil (a primarily monounsaturated fat) and canola or soybean oil (polyunsaturated fats) are commonly used unsaturated fats.

Tallow is much more than simple cooking oil. It has some unique characteristics. Some of the saturated fat of tallow is a specific type of fat known as stearic acid. According to the Mayo Clinic, the stearic acid content of tallow appears not to raise cholesterol in the same manner as other saturated fats. Tallow is also rich in fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. Note that the method of rendering can alter the quantities of these vitamins in the final product. But using tallow in cooking can allow for increased absorption of fat-soluble vitamins from other sources in our gut.

Of all the aspects of tallow, one of the most favorable is the smoke point or peroxidation index. The smoke point is the temperature at which an oil will begin to degrade and produce harmful oxidized compounds. These oxidized compounds have been shown to increase inflammation, oxidative stress, and the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease. The smoke point of tallow is 420-480 degrees, which means it is excellent for cooking and frying. The smoke point of olive oil, at 350-410 degrees, is much lower, which makes it an unsavory choice to use with heat. Beef tallow also adds a depth of umami flavor that vegetable oils cannot match. As an example, many older readers might remember McDonald’s French fries and how good they used to taste. Prior to 1990, McDonald’s used to fry its world-famous French fries in beef tallow. They now use vegetable oil and add beef flavorings in an attempt to mimic the umami flavor the tallow used to provide. However, restaurants are coming to an understanding of the many benefits of frying in beef tallow and have committed to returning to the era of delicious fried foods. One such restaurant is Steak n Shake, which has nixed the vegetable oil in favor of tallow in its fryers starting this month.

Another interesting trend is the use of tallow for promoting healthy skin. According to research by Margaret Russel in the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine, the composition of tallow is similar to that of our natural skin oils. The nutrient-dense salve loaded with oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and linoleic acid allows it to penetrate through the skin surface, locking in moisture and reducing oxidation. The chemistry of tallow, along with the essential vitamins it contains, makes it an excellent resource for those with skin issues. About a year ago, we jumped on the viral skin care trend and haven’t looked back since. The thousands of personal testimonies have been spot on. Tallow has been a fantastic treatment for everything from dry, normal skin, to eczema, and minor skin irritation. We now offer both tallow balms and tallow soap, handmade from our grass-fed dairy beef at our market.

Want to learn more? The book, The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz is a must-read. Or if you are interested in rendering your own tallow, it’s easy. There are many step-by-step guides online. Visit your local butcher shop or request that your butcher save the suet from your next cow. A friendly butcher may even grind the fat for you, making it ever easier to render at home.

Megan Schrupp and Ellen Stenger are sisters and co-owners of both NexGen Dairy and NexGen Market in Eden Valley, Minnesota. They can be reached at [email protected].