We’ve been hearing more and more about bison lately. Unfortunately, many are being misled into believing that bison meat is somehow innately more healthy than beef. Some of the claims being made about bison meat include:
- lean
- low in fat
- low in cholesterol
- just “healthier”
- “heart healthy”
- “farm raised”
Sadly, these are the same claims often (and erroneously) made about the nutritional benefits of grass-fed beef! The problem is that these claims are based on the faulty “lipid hypothesis” and the equally faulty “diet-heart hypothesis.” These are the idea that eating fat (especially saturated fat from red meat) makes you fat and the idea that eating cholesterol raises your blood cholesterol levels and causes heart disease. You can read a summary of the fallacies associated with these hypotheses from some published journal articles and some well-researched articles in the links at the bottom of this article.
The problem with claiming that lean meat is better for your health is twofold. Eating fat neither makes you fat (in and of itself) nor does it cause heart disease. Second, important cancer fighting nutrients and inflamation-fighting fatty acids are found in the fat of the animal and thus contribute to better health. Thus, the actual ***benefit*** of eating grass-finished beef is IN THE FAT. The fat of grass-finished beef is significantly higher in cancer-fighting CLA (conjugated linoleic acid — a saturated fatty acid) and has a much better Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acid ratio ( upto 23:1 in grain-finished animals versus 2:1 in grass-fed animals). So, an animal that tends to be leaner naturally, such as a bison, is LESS likely to exhibit the health benefits claimed. So too, improperly finished grass-fed beef (advertised as lean) also fails the health benefits test. Make no mistake, grass-fed beef is often leaner than grain-finished beef. This is a PROBLEM to overcome, NOT a benefit! Grass-fed animals trend to be leaner because they do not eat a high-energy diet. Farmers, as grass-finishers, do everything we can to glean as much energy from our pastures and thus put marbling and fat cover on our animals. We do this for taste and nutritional benefits! (So, please take advantage by using whatever fat is available!)
You probably noticed in the above discussion a distinction between grass-finished and grain-finished animals. This distinction also applies to bison! Many people falsely assume that bison meat comes from grass-fed animals. Nothing could be further from the truth! Many of today’s bison herds are fed and finished very much like conventional beef cattle herds, including a steady diet of grain. Grain feeding a bison (even bison that live on pastures and eat grass every day) has very nearly the same effects on bison meat as it does on beef — namely, a marked increase in the Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acid profile. Furthermore, since bison tend toward leaner muscles, even when grain-finished, the benefits of CLA are also reduced. Greater levels of CLA can be obtained when eating grain-finished animals IF greater portions of the fat is eaten, but this is difficult in a lean muscled animal such as a bison (or an improperly finished grass-fed beef.) Once again, bison fails. Eating a grain fed bison is no better, and possibly worse, than eating a grain-fed beef. This situation is analogous to the wild-caught salmon versus farmed salmon dilemma. Farmed salmon are fed special grain-based feed rations that eliminate the beneficial fatty acid ratios found in wild-caught fish. Whether the animal produces “healthy” meat depends on the animal’s diet! Don’t assume that because bison is “farm raised” that it is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished!
The problem with claiming a health benefit of “low in cholesterol” is that eating cholesterol doesn’t typically affect blood (“plasma”) cholesterol levels. Even if it did, the cholesterol link to heart disease is much more complex than saying that high blood cholesterol causes disease.
The bottom line is that you might want to eat bison because you like the taste of it or because you happen to prefer leaner meat, or you simply like the idea of eating a native american animal, etc. Just don’t be fooled by false health claims!
Published Journal Article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5236032_The_fallacies_of_the_lipid_hypothesis
Chris Kresser Paleo blog series: http://chriskresser.com/?s=The+Diet-Heart+Myth%3A+Cholesterol+and+Saturated+Fat+Are+Not+the+Enemy
Denise Minger’s critique of the China Study book: https://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
