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Is beef tallow making a comeback?

nytimes.com

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Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#141

Post by pc86 »

Noaidi wrote: post #103
getpost wrote: post #30

Brad Marshall[0] makes a case for the benefits of stearic acid (C18:0), which is predominant in beef tallow and cocoa butter. It acts as a beneficial metabolic signal that promotes mitochondrial fat oxidation, higher energy expenditure, and leanness—counteracting the obesogenic effects of polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), especially linoleic acid. [0] https://fireinabottle.net/every-fire-in-a-bottle-post-from-t... EDIT:…

Taking one fatty acid out of a complex fat like tallow and therefore extrapolating that "tallow is good for you and everyone" is a huge mistake. Does Brad Marshall mention that Palmitic acid is the dominant fatty acid in tallow? And since Palmitic acid is the most abundant SFA in the U.S. diet, can we draw a conclusion that it may partially play a role in poor health outcomes? PUFA suppress lipogenic gene expression…

Fallacy of composition. It does not logically follow that given Palmitic acid is the most abundant SFA in the US diet (objectively true), and given the US diet directly leads to poor health outcomes (very likely but not proven at least not to the level of the prior claim), that Palmitic acid contributes to poor health outcomes. It's entirely possible Palmitic acid is great for you and if we had less we'd be doing even worse. The statements are simply not connected at all.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#142

Post by codezero »

aziaziazi wrote: post #77
akerl_ wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The molecules I’m aware of are all made of atoms.

Those atoms were made in supernova, but the molecules themselves probably didn’t. It’s like saying "my car was made in a supernova" because it’s made of atoms. Sure…

In order to drive a car, you must first invent the Universe.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#143

Post by bluGill »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #95
halostatue wrote: post #10

Not to be flippant, but we know that the answer to that is "No" because of Betteridge's Law of Headlines[1]. I haven't read the article ("too hard, didn't care"), but as a foodie: - in certain food circles, it never went away - industrially, McD's in at least North America used beef tallow as one of the par-frying oils for their fries well into the 21st century -- which caused a stir amongst vegetarians and Hindu who…

> industrially, McD's in at least North America used beef tallow as one of the par-frying oils for their fries well into the 21st century Everything I've read says that McDonald's switched globally to vegetable oil in the early 1990s. I think you've misremembered.

Right. They used solid blocks in the 1990s, but it was vegetable oil not beef tallow. Of course to make vegetable oil a solid block they had to make it a trans-far which is worse than saturated fat (as we now know, but didn't then). In the late 1990s they switched to a liquid oil, though I don't know how what it was (I suspect it still had a lot of trans fats, but I don't have information on the composition). I quit just after that, but I think they switched the fat used again in the early 2000s to something that was pure vegetable oil.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#144

Post by waysa »

bowmessage wrote: post #8
Workaccount2 wrote: post #5

RFK's playbook is to wake up, check what the crunchy moms on instagram are cackling about, issue policy based on the comments sections.

Remove whatever politics you might believe from the equation. Is beef tallow a better option for a cooking fat? I think it is.

> Is beef tallow a better option for a cooking fat? I think it is.

Better compared to what? Better than refined canola? Probably. Better than good quality, cold-pressed vegetable oils? Probably not. It's not great for heart health.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#145

Post by Noaidi »

pc86 wrote: post #141
Noaidi wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking one fatty acid out of a complex fat like tallow and therefore extrapolating that "tallow is good for you and everyone" is a huge mistake. Does Brad Marshall mention that Palmitic acid is the dominant fatty acid in tallow? And since Palmitic acid is the most abundant SFA in the U.S. diet, can we draw a conclusion that it may partially play a role in poor health outcomes? PUFA suppress lipogenic gene expression…

Fallacy of composition. It does not logically follow that given Palmitic acid is the most abundant SFA in the US diet (objectively true), and given the US diet directly leads to poor health outcomes (very likely but not proven at least not to the level of the prior claim), that Palmitic acid contributes to poor health outcomes. It's entirely possible Palmitic acid is great for you and if we had less we'd be doing eve…

I was replying to someone who was suing the fallacy of composition.

But if you really want to talk about fallacies, why is no one talking about how genetics can determine who these fatty acids are good and bad for? making blanket recommendation for a specific food without knowing someones genetics and heritage is foolish. But do a search for nutritional genetics on HN....nothing.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#146

Post by [deleted] »

franktankbank wrote: post #64
bloaf wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We all know there has been a replication crisis across many different disciplines of science. I think that the set of things we actually know about nutrition and health is a lot smaller than the experts think. However, the problem is that the public has also come to that conclusion. The public has gone on to decide "that means my incredibly weakly-evidenced idea is just as good as the expert opinions" which does not…

Lived experience is not really weak evidence though. Personally I use tallow minimally but it seems like a really good high flash point oil.

[deleted]

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#147

Post by bluGill »

jader201 wrote: post #138
bluGill wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. Tallow is more expensive so they are probably happy to charge less for fries to the majority that wouldn't pay extra for it. Keeping two different sets of fries is more headaches than they are likely to want to have.

Why both? Just go back to beef tallow fries. Even if it’s more expensive, the marketing could bring back more customers. Worst case, they could increase the cost, and people would probably still pay it, given the current hype around tallow and people’s love for the former tallow fries.

I don't work for McDonald's, much less in any of the departments that would make this decision. I'm speculating, but I still stand by my claim that they won't do this: they need to arrange supply lines before they can make that switch - which would take years, the tide could change at any time in those years. That is why continue to stand by my claim, but I'm not an insider and so if they do something different - it won't be the first time I predicted the future and turned out wrong.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#148

Post by Aeglaecia »

nicole_express wrote: post #121
Aeglaecia wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i dont think it takes machismo to say that frying in animal fat is tastier than frying in whatever the hell constitues canola oil , as well your american breads and pastas are probably significantly less healthy than the european equivalent

Looking at dry pasta from Europe and the US, they seem pretty much the same, except the US pasta is more likely to use enriched flour; not sure what makes that less healthy. Bread varies a lot and yeah we have some terrible breads, I don't buy them but someone must because they keep selling them

it was a bit doubtful that the recipe for pasta could vary so much , although i do see on the net that america is fond of jar pasta sauce over tomato cans (not pasta exactly but intrinsically linked) ... perhaps this down promotion of carbs is a knock on effect from years of the keto diet being mainstream

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#149

Post by snarf21 »

boringg wrote: post #93

Someone on this thread is able to speak to the argument that has been made about beef being specifically the animal meat to not eat due to its ability to raise inflammation in the system. I had one of the top level specialists say that people with high cholesterol should only eat beef once a year due to its ability to raise inflammation in the circulatory system. Wouldn't beef tallow be along the same line? It's seem…

That is quite interesting to me as someone who is suffering from CIRS (chronic inflammation from toxic mold exposure). The prevailing wisdom in CIRS circles is that an ideal diet is nothing but unprocessed fresh grass fed beef and berries and greens. From what I've read, tallow doesn't oxidize as quickly as other oils and it has almost no linoleic acid (omega 6) which can create eicosanoids and crowd out omega 3s.

Re: Is beef tallow making a comeback?

#150

Post by tbrownaw »

pc86 wrote: post #129
franktankbank wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lived experience is not really weak evidence though. Personally I use tallow minimally but it seems like a really good high flash point oil.

The entire concept of "lived experience" is, bluntly - absolute bullshit. You take all the worst aspects of both conscious and unconscious biases as well as anecdotal 'evidence', and wrap it up in the fact that the average person is simply not capable of objectively analyzing themselves[0], and you end up with people saying that demonstrably false things are true simply because that's how they [incorrectly] interpret…

> [0] 80-90% of people describe themselves as an "above-average" driver.

What shape is the distribution of driving ability? It seems entirely plausible that most drivers are decent and a smaller population are bad enough to pull the mean down well below the median.

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