This thread will walk you through a few of the main benefits of cooking with tallow and why I view it as the most important cooking fat you can implement to improve your metabolic health.
First off, Tallow is rendered fat (Suet), typically from the organs of the animal. The rendered fat is slowly cooked over low heat until it becomes a liquid.
Almost all seed oils are made from GMO sources that can trigger allergic reactions & inflammation.
The rendered fat of tallow is a fantastic alternative that will allow you to remove these toxins from your body.
5/ Dairy-Free
Because Tallow is made from the rendered fat of the animal, there is no dairy content (unlike butter or ghee). This will allow it to sit more comfortably in your GI.
For anyone that has a sensitivity to dairy, Tallow could be a great option for you.
6/ High Smoke Point
Tallow has a phenomenal smoke point of 350 - 400 degrees.
Notice how when you try and cook a steak at high heat with olive oil or butter the liquid burns and turns black? That is because the smoke point on the oil & fat is low.
Tallow's high smoke point allows you to get a fantastic sear & crust on your meat without the burning of other oils.
PRO TIP: Let your pan get nice and hot before you put the tallow in. When you place your steak in the pan, you should hear an audible sizzle to develop the crust.
7/ Nose-to-Tail
By consuming tallow, you are using the entire animal and making sure none of it goes to waste.
Our ancestors were known for making entire use of the animal, which included cooking with rendered fat.
TIP: Opt for a Local Tallow Source
I highly recommend buying Tallow from a trusted source like a local farm or preparing this yourself.
if you are buying from a store, the product is almost definitely hydrogenated.
This allows for extended shelf-life but it is not natural.
TIP: Opt for Grass-Fed Tallow
Studies have shown that Grass-Fed tallow has 45% less PUFA and 66% Omega-6 Fatty Acid than Grain-Fed tallow.
PUFAs and Omega-6s are shown to trigger inflammation and damage mitochondrial health.
If you are unable to source directly from a local farm, brands like @EPICbar and @Fatworks have very high-quality products that you can order directly from Amazon.
Our app, @SeedOilScout, will allow you to find all local restaurants that are cooking with healthy fats such as tallow, lard, ghee, butter, etc.
You will be able to dine fearlessly and ensure that you are getting real foods prepared properly:
Dr Peter Attia: “…I have posed this question to every friend of mine who is more steeped in nutrition than I am & I still don’t have a great sense of how to explain these results”
The MCE is one of the most egregious examples of data suppression and cherrypicking in modern medicine.
The data “confusing” because they fly in the face of the “heart healthy” omega-6 fats narrative, taken objectively the results are clear as day.
The gold standard for scientific research is a “Randomized Control Trial”, in which treatment and control groups are randomly assigned, and the intervention, be it diet or drugs is tightly controlled.
You've likely heard of "The French Paradox": the French consume primarily butter and have elevated cholesterol, yet low incidences of cardiovascular disease.
Are there any wealthy nations that consume large amounts of seed oils and few sat. fats? How are they fairing?
“Israelis eat less animal fat and cholesterol and fewer calories than Americans, but they have comparable rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and many cancers. They have an ideal diet, as far as the American food pyramid is concerned, but far from ideal… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
2/ Why All the seed oils?
Israeli’s are on the Mediterranean, but do not adhere to its famed diet of fish and olive oil.
Being a relatively new nation like the US, Israel lacks the deep culinary traditions of its neighbors.
When Ray Crock purchased the franchise rights to Mcdonalds in 1961, he was really purchasing the hallowed beef tallow french fry that had diners hooked.
Sold in a single 2.4oz size, the original McDonald’s french fry was a perfect American creation, universally beloved.
Top quality 8oz idaho Russet potatoes, peeled then soaked in cold water, and fried in Mcdonald’s proprietary tallow mix.
At the original Mcdonald’s location in San Bernadino, these were the stand out item, the fries were made in a dedicated fryer with military precision.
For years these fries were an American treasure, then fear of high cholesterol reared its ugly head.
A lone zealot with deep pockets named Phil Sokolov had a heart attack and directed his personal fortune towards the complete removal of saturated fat from the American diet.
We are often asked what a “seed oil” is exactly. It’s all there in the name. If you are extracting oil from a seed, a number of things are going wrong:
Corn kernels are seeds, rice bran is a seed, all nuts are seeds. Coconut, palm, olive and avocado are fruits.
Fruits can be cold extracted, seeds generally require industrial processing and high heat, which leads to nasty byproducts.
Even cold pressed & unrefined seed oils are unnaturally high in PUFA and known to cause metabolic issues.
They are preferable to refined seed oils as they retain their antioxidants and micronutrients, but should still be strictly limited or avoided.
“Seed oil free” is by no means boring. Miami Catalan hot spot Niu Kitchen was incredibly accommodating and knowledgeable about their oil usage, only a spare one or two dishes used a seed-oil based aioli.