Socially Transmitted: What does using beef tallow mean for your heart?

On this month’s Socially Transmitted, KBIA's Najifa Farhat and Rebecca Smith look at beef tallow — what it is in the first place and how it can impact cardiac health.

Farhat spoke with Dr. Jacob Hayden, a cardiologist at MU Health, to find out more.

Rebecca Smith: This is a particularly interesting one for me because I'm a vegetarian, and it's become really difficult for me to eat out with family and friends as more restaurants have made the switch [to beef tallow], and foods that don't include meat, like french fries, have suddenly become inaccessible to me.

I guess just to start off, Najifa, what exactly is beef tallow?

Najifa Farhat: So, basically, beef tallow is a fat typically sourced from the hard fat around the kidneys and loins of a cow, and some consider it a more natural and pure version of fat than what is usually used for cooking.

I spoke to Dr. Jacob Hayden, a cardiologist at MU Healthcare, and he explained it like this:

Dr. Jacob Hayden: Beef tallow, historically, [was used] probably by our grandparents and people even before them.

It's gaining a lot of popularity because it's being touted as kind of this natural product, less processed than some of these seed oils, so therefore it must be a better alternative. However, you know, that's not necessarily the case.

Rebecca Smith: I think it's really interesting, Najifa, that you spoke with a cardiologist — someone who specializes in heart health — because, I think, when we think about fats being bad, it's things like weight, but he says that's not the only concern.

Najifa Farhat: Yes. In fact, the biggest concern is the impact on cardiac health. According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one cause of death in Missouri.

And Dr. Hayden especially emphasized that beef tallow is a saturated fat, and consuming any large amount of saturated fat is bad for the human heart, as it can raise the level of bad cholesterol.

This bad cholesterol though — the low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, as it's actually called — can lead to clogged arteries and restricted blood flow, which can then cause heart attacks or strokes.

Dr. Jacob Hayden: Beef tallow has been shown to raise LDL levels compared to plant oils. That's a scientific fact. High animal fat intake is associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality, roughly about 14% to 15%.

Rebecca Smith: Okay, but fats aren't all bad. Right, Najifa? I mean, humans, we have to eat and consume fat to exist.

Najifa Farhat: Of course, and there are a lot of sources of fat — oils like olive, avocado, soybean, or canola. People just need to pick which is most suitable for their health.

University of Missouri Health Care

For example, Dr. Hayden mentions conventional seed oils are actually lower in saturated fats than beef tallow because of the way they are processed, which he says actually reduces cholesterol levels.

Dr. Jacob Hayden: They're higher in polyunsaturated fat content, which has been shown in the literature to actually reduce or help to lower cholesterol.

Again, circling back to the social media trend, a lot of the trend was based off of the idea that these ultra processed seed oils lead to inflammation in the body or lead to obesity or some other effects when there's no scientific evidence to actually support that.

Najifa Farhat: But he also adds that eating beef tallow is fine if done occasionally. He says the best recommendation for heart health is getting less than 10% of your daily calories from saturated fats.

Dr. Jacob Hayden: Even, I believe, it's about a teaspoon of beef tallow already is inching on the daily recommended value. It doesn't take much, especially with the high saturated content of beef tallow.

So, as little as possible is what's recommended. Try not to consume it on a daily basis.

Rebecca Smith: Well, Najifa, thanks so much for looking into this. This is one I've really been excited about us doing.