Grass Fed, Grass Finished and Never Grain

Author: Anna Wilen Clark

Why Grass Fed?

If you have tried any of Paleo Skincare’s numerous, natural products, then you already know that beef tallow is the most spectacular skincare option on the market right now. Because it is teeming with fat soluble vitamins A, E, and K and the natural moisturizer and anti-inflammatory conjugated linoleic acid, as well as a whole host of other skin benefiting components, cleansers made from tallow do so much more than just remove dirt and impurities from your skin. They respect the fact that your skin is your body’s largest organ, and that it deserves the exact same attention to proper sustenance and nourishment that the organs on your insides do!

This leads to naturally radiant, healthful, glowing, smooth, supple skin that is consequently a bit more resistant to wrinkle-inducing dehydration and sun damage.

How does it do this?

The average consumer isn’t looking for a chemistry lesson but the following, slightly shortened explanation of the components of beef tallow breaks down how it provides such brilliant benefits:

Lauric Acid	Provides antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial functions.
Oleic Acid	A natural source of mega moisture.
Polyunsaturated Fats	A composition of Omega 3 and Omega 6, both of which are beneficial to our bodies.
Linolenic Acid	Also known as Omega 3, which cannot be synthesized by our bodies. It is both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
Linoleic Acid	Omega 6, and is also considered essential because the body cannot synthesize it
Conjugated Linoleic Acid	Natural CLA has significant health benefits, including anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties.
Palmitic Acid	A natural and major component of healthy human sebum.
Stearic Acid	Another major component of healthy human sebum.
Myristic Acid	Appears to have antioxidant properties.
Palmitoleic Acid	Also known as Omega 7, this helps with the prevention oxidative damage and provides major moisture.

However, just as all foods are not created equal (ie: canned fruit provides the consumer with less nutritional value than fresh fruit) not all types of tallow are created equal. It may sound a little bit cliché but the phrase “You are what you eat.” applies to cows too! Paleo Skincare only uses grass-fed tallow. This is in part because of the way that grain-fed cows are raised. They start out their lives eating grass in open fields, but are usually “finished” in oftentimes filthy concentrated animal feeding operations (CFAOs) on antibiotic and steroid filled soy or corn-based feed. This feed is designed with fattening the cows up as quickly as possible, as cheaply as possible, to make the highest profit possible, rather than their over-all health, and the health of those who will be consuming them in mind. Grain fed cattle simply lead a less healthy, less humane, less environmentally friendly life-style than grass fed.

In terms of skincare, though, grass fed beef is better because it contains up to five times the linoleic acid, or Omega 3s, as grain fed. That’s not all, though. It also has about twice as much conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) as grain fed beef does.

How is this possible?

Well grain-based feeds lower the pH of the digestive system of cows, and this slows down the growth of the bacterium that are responsible for making the CLA. What are some other benefits? Grass fed beef also contains higher levels of skin-benefiting antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals such as vitamin E, which helps protect omega-3 and omega-6 in our body’s cells, and beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A.

Simply put, a healthier animal makes for healthier, more nutrient dense beef tallow for Paleo Skincare to turn into creams and cleansers - which makes for healthier skin for YOU!