There’s a huge difference in quality and nutrition between grass fed and grain fed beef, for both you and your dog.
When searching for dog food, that means any premium brand made with grass fed beef will be much healthier for your dog.
For us, any carnivore connoisseurs will tell you why you should stump up the additional $s for grass-fed nutrition.
Let’s compare grass-fed and grain-fed beef a little more deeply:
The benefits of grass-fed beef for you and your dog
Grass-fed beef has a naturally occurring fatty acid called CLA which is linked to long-term weight management and good health. That’s your first win, as I know that matters to you.
Although synthetic versions of CLA have been a popular weight loss supplement for years in the human space, grass-fed beef has a much higher natural level of CLA.
By fine-tuning yours and your carnivorous dog’s eating plan with the addition of grass-fed beef, you reap the benefits of healthier proteins, and likely a noticeable improvement in weight-loss results.
The magic of a high protein diet lies in the way it tricks the body into thinking it’s fasting. This is the case for keto diets and carnivore diets (cats are carnivores, dogs aren’t too different). By minimizing or removing carbohydrates, the body uses fat, not carbs, as its prime energy source. This process is ketogenesis and can occur between 1 to 5 days without carbs, usually causing a dry mouth and slightly bad breath as your body adapts.
Grass-fed beef is rich in sodium, potassium, and magnesium — three key electrolytes — and these can play an integral role in maintaining the delicate electrolyte balance during the initial weight loss phase. Grain-fed beef doesn’t have this benefit, which is the reason many who attempt a keto diet suffer from a symptom called “keto flu”.
Grass-fed beef contains significantly higher levels of Vitamins A, K, D, E, CLA, and Omega 6, to grain-fed beef. These nutrients help regulate metabolic rate and lower cholesterol.
Grass-fed beef is up to five times higher in Omega 3, a fatty acid responsible for heart health and cognitive function.
Grain-fed beef carries more fat & marbling, and with meat prices currently, sometimes grain-fed beef can be the cheaper option.
Quick tip: If you find grass-fed beef hard to find, or too expensive, do this: Visit a local farm shop or butcher. If you want to find hidden gems, go to a farmers market, talk to stall owners, and ask if they have a farm or farm shop.
Most of the time, they’ll do meat mince (with offal) and raw meaty bones as well, for your dog of course, not you.
Let’s consider butter!
It’s not just grass-fed beef which is so much better for our health. It’s the butter as well.
(I know this website is about feeding a dog, so I’ll quickly add my dog loves a little bit of butter).
If you’re on a keto diet, or carnivore diet, then a key component should be butter. Real butter.
Did you know grass-fed butter has all the vitamins and mineral content of grass-fed beef?
This isn’t the case for the nutrient-poor butter from grain-fed cows.
What about organic grass fed-beef?
Organic grass-fed beef, if truly organic, will be free of harmful ingredients like sweeteners, highly refined oils, and food additives.
If the option of organic is available, and you’re happy to pay for it, then you’re buying a much more nutritious piece of beef.
Remember: The terms grass-fed or grain-fed tell you nothing about how that cow was raised or its health at slaughter.