Meat Composition - Fatty acids and Hormones (among other things).
A healthy diet should consist of roughly one to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 11 to 30 times more omega -6 fatty acids than omega -3, a phenomenon that has been hypothesized as a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States[40]. Table Table22 shows significant differences in n-6:n-3 ratios between grass-fed and grain-fed beef, with and overall average of 1.53 and 7.65 for grass-fed and grain-fed, respectively, for all studies reported in this review.
The fatty acids of fish and beef are different in terms of types and nutritional values. Fish species are excellent dietary sources of highly unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid as well, especially the omega-3 fatty acids. Fish species from the Pacific coast have relatively high proportion of n-3 highly polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 HUFAs), of which more than 80% is by C20:5n-3 (EPA) and C22:6n-3. About 1.0 g per day of omega-3 (EPA+DHA) or two servings of fatty fish per week are required to reduce the risk of death from coronary heart disease. Fish oils are very different from vegetable oils and from animal fats in three important respects. In beef the fat content varies widely depending on the
cut and degree of trimming marbling fat is an important meat quality and highly related to juiciness, aroma and tenderness and it is of
most interest in relation to human health.
