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A Fat-Fighting Fat May Be Lurking in Your Butter
By Amanda Rose | Dairy
Your glass of milk and pat of butter may have more beneficial fats if the cow that produced them grazed on grass. Milk, butter, and cream from grass fed cows are high in the heart-healthy, cancer-fighting, and lean muscle-building conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). A study published in the Journal of Dairy Science found that a tablespoon of butter from a cow on a grass diet contained 250 milligrams of CLA, whereas a tablespoon of butter from a cow in confinement contained less than 50 milligrams of this beneficial fat. In the United States, most dairy cows live in confinement, though dairies that are certified organic are required to provide cows with access to pasture.
How do you know how much grass is in the diet of the cows producing your milk? Your best bet is to ask your dairy farmer. We have a buyer’s guide available with our posts-by-email sign-up designed for raw milk consumers that would help you understand the issue and know what to look for at a dairy, but it would be useful for buyers of small production pasteurized milk as well.
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But who knows where those cows grazed? I read the label on a pack of butter yesterday and the info is close to non existent. The word “Cow” is only mentioned for marketing purposes.
I’ve never really thought about the difference in how much grass is in the diet of the cows that produce the milk I buy for myself and my family. But after reading your post, it makes me more curious. Hopefully plenty.
All natural is really better. But the problem really lies in determining which product would be the organic one. Will they put it on the label?
Wow! Going natural and choosing organic products are really ideal. I hope that milk and butter labels will show info about this soon. Thanks!
Old post, sorry. Had to comment. It is not just how much time the cows are on pasture. Not just the quality of the pasture, variety of grasses, legumes & forbes, etc. But also how often the cows are moved to new forage. It is my observation from managed rotational grazing my own animals, that a minimum of daily moves provides the most nutritious grass. If you are buying milk (or any “grass fed” product) from a farmer that either continuously grazes the same pasture or moves them only periodically (only weekly, monthly, less than daily really) then you are… Read more »
Kristin, Thanks for your comment. That’s a really good tip to help consumers get an idea of how much grass is actually in the diet. It’s a big problem in the “grass fed” movement when consumers are told that the animal is on pasture but that pasture isn’t really sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the herd. How often the herd is moved in a rotational grazing system could be one question consumers could ask. In your experience, what is the minimal number of acres per head of cattle? On the measurement, I’d have to look at the study… Read more »
Eating grass-fed meat is a good idea and a first step to a healthy lifestyle. The next step would be to implement a diet that contains a lot of green foods..
I agree completely.
Yogurt is easier to digest and can be probiotic depending how it’s made.
Hi
I have seen the same charts on a couple of web sights but no one says what size this glass of milk is in ml
This would be of grait help for me as the parstird cows milk I am able to get hold of is expencive
In New Zealand all our cows are grass fed. I find the idea of cows being fed grain or being kept in warehouses to be bizarre. I’m lucky to live in clean green NZ where we don’t use grains or hormones
Cows are usually fed grains and other stuff in asian countries which is really harmful for health. In some parts of asia, animals are injected with medicines to get more milk and flabby meat. I think its just evil.
With out milk we cant imagine our life for a single day.. Especially for children to make a good health. So please be good to cows and so that we can maintain good health for ourselves.
It may be of interest and help to note that dairy is often sourced regionally for supermarket chains, and brands may or may not be rBGH-free… so be sure to check the labels. (rBGH is a recombinant DNA version of naturally-occurring bovine growth hormone which when injected into cows increases milk production up to 40 percent.) To find where your supermarket stands and its policy on rBGH and GM ingredients, check out this list (at http://www.whatisgeneticengineering.net) of some of the largest supermarkets in the U.S., their store brand products, and company statements on rBGH and GM ingredients.