For many years, nutritionists and many doctors have stressed the importance of Omega-3 fatty acids as being a vital part of a healthy lifestyle.
Its true, these are essential fats, and unlike most fats our bodies can't make them from raw materials, but that has meant a lot of hype. One of America's favorite anti-vaccine homeopaths, Dr. Joe Mercola, appeals to their popularity when noting that nutritional supplements and foods fortified with omega-3 fats are a 2.6.billion dollar business - and that you should make him even richer buying them from him.
An endorsement by Joe Mercola (or virtually anyone whose title ends with "path") is reason enough for caution, but the American Council on Science and Health doesn't want you to stop consuming fish - we just want you to know what Omega-3s can and cannot do and whether foods fortified with them are worth more money.
Should you pay more for beef fortified with them?
In Texas, you can buy beef made from steers fed with flax seed (which slightly boosts Omega-3 content) and elites who want something more prestigious than hamburgers made from grass-fed animals have been flocking to it - which has caught the attention of the food marketing community. The kind of people who fetishize their food and are horrified by science have embraced this modified beef. Instead of being terrified by the scientific approach, a nationwide study shows that consumers would be willing to pay $1.85 a pound for more enriched steaks and also 79 cents a pound for more enriched ground beef, as stated by Kansas State agricultural economist Sean Fox.
Not everyone is buying it, literally or figuratively. An article in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition determined that there is no optimal animal feed that will impact human health it s best to simply enjoy the balance that nature provides in open pastures whenever it s accessible. So there is no harm from flaxseed-fed beef but not known benefit either.
So if you have the cabbage, buy the beef. Otherwise, a cheap hamburger will be just fine.