Eat Fat to Burn Fat: Stearic Acid in Tallow

Life is full of paradoxes, and so is dietary advice.  While we were told so many times to avoid saturated fats, it turns out that may not be the best of advice after all.  I won't get into the details of this, as the reader has likely done enough preliminary research to find themselves here at this blog post, and is likely well-aware of the myriad benefits to eating saturated fats.

However, I will speak specifically about stearic acid, just one of many beneficial fatty acids found in tallow.  

Stearic acid is a long-chain fatty acid, one of the fats that have long been demonized.  It is 18 carbon chains placed together.  While most mainstream nutritionists and doctors may tell you these fats will make you fat, the science tells a different story.

A 2014 study published in the NIH website illustrates the ability of stearic acid to signal to the body.  While stearic acid indeed has many downstream signaling impacts on the body ranging from the heart, liver, brain, pancreas & insulin metabolism, to endothelial regulation and obesity & thermoregulation, I'll just focus on the fat-burning abilities of stearic acid here.

This 2014 study showed that a population of mice eating high quantities of stearic acid lost visceral fat (this is the unhealthy bodily fat that we want to avoid--the fat surrounding organs in our middle section which can lead to myriad diseases).  This population was compared to a mice population eating a low-fat diet.  The mice eating high amounts of stearic acid showed "increased apoptosis (programmed cell death) and cytotoxicity in preadipocytes."  For the reader who is less familiar with medical terminology, this means that the mice eating stearic acid had more of their own visceral fat cells dying off as they should, rather than lingering for longer-than-normal periods.  Cells that linger and live longer than they should can proliferate into cancer, and cause other metabolic and/or inflammatory problems.  So, keeping an adequate rate of apoptosis is a good marker of health (apoptosis is one of the many benefits of fasting, which is currently popular in many health circles).  "Cytotoxicity in preadipocytes" means that preadipocytes, or cells that are ready to become fat storage cells, die off in the presence of stearic acid--it has a toxic effect on those cells, and prevents them from ever turning into full-fledged fat cells.  This process, while technical sounding, essentially translates to: eat more stearic acid, and your body will kill off old, unefficient fat cells, and prevent new fat cells from forming.  Ultimately, it means less visceral or unhealthy fat on our body.

Another 2012 study published in the premier journal Nature showed that obese women have lower levels of C18, or stearic acid, in their cells and bodies than non-obese or healthy weight women.

Wow!  Who knew that eating fat could and would result in a leaner body?  One of the many miracles of the human body....

There are a handful of naturally-rich sources of stearic acid, such as cacao butter, and of course, bison tallow.  We always recommend buying 100% grass-fed and finished tallow to ensure it is higher in stearic acid, and low in fatty acids that can be harmful and are often common in corn/soy/grain-fed beef.

And, of course, we always recommend bison over beef.  Bison is higher in omega 3 fatty acids, most nutrients/vitamins/minerals, and stearic acid when compared to beef.  Check out our 100% grass-fed and finished bison tallow for a rich source of stearic acid that is equally healthy for you, and our planet!