Grassfed Beef Tallow and its Health Benefits

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 Simply put, tallow is a type of cleaned and purified fat from beef cattle. Fats, along with proteins, are essential building blocks for every cell membrane, including your skin. They provide energy, help absorb minerals, and carry a wealth of vitamins. Tallow is the result of a delicate and tedious process of rendering animal fats and suet. Suet is a nutrient-dense fat surrounding the organs of some ruminant animals, most notably their kidney.

We used nothing but our grass fed beef steers' fat and suet. The cattle are humanely-raised, organically cared for, free of hormones and antibiotics, and of course, never given grain as their diet! Grass fed beef tallow is the only tallow that is super-concentrated in essential vitamins that are necessary for healthy skin. 

Beef tallow, rendered from grass fed cattle, is loaded with vitamins A, D & K and antioxidants. One of which is vitamin E, known to promote rejuvenation of the skin by fighting free radicals that can cause wrinkles.

1. Vitamin E has also been shown to prevent the breakdown of collagen. "The intake of natural vitamin E products helps against collagen cross linking and lipid peroxidation, which are both linked to aging of the skin." (source)
2. Vitamin D has the ability to restore vibrancy in skin. In addition, Vitamin D "induces the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes in human skin and plays a significant role in preventing opportunistic infections." (source)

Tallow contains the same fats and lipids found in healthy, supple human skin. Lipids are found in abundance in the membrane of the cells. They are responsible for the free flowing of liquids (aka moisture) in and out of our cells. Lipids are beneficial because they create a protective, yet permeable barrier that prevents infection, maintains moisture, flexibility and structure of the cell. Tallow has been used to prevent dryness and irritation at the cellular level without suffocating the skin's barrier like petroleum-based lotions. 

Cattle allowed to graze naturally on native grasses in the sunshine (like ours do) develop large amounts of Conjugated Linoleic Acid, or CLA. This CLA is primarily stored within the fat cells that surround the cows organs, namely the kidneys. 

1. "Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a naturally occurring compound found in ruminants products, has been shown to possess anticancer properties in vivo and in vitro." (source)