Foods are not supplements. Eating choices that overtime lead to deficiencies concern me. Whole foods contain many nutrients, not just one or two, and they interact with each other in beneficial ways, such as the way beef helps the body absorb the iron in kale. Even if you test well for one nutrient or another, by avoiding animal derived foods entirely, you miss out on the top food sources of DHA and EPA fats, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and trace nutrients like selenium and zinc.

There are vegan substitutes for most nutrients, but it can difficult and expensive for many people to get the right balance with them. The most recent large study of vegan and vegetarian diets found that the majority of the men were B12 deficient.

But there are contradictory studies about CLA. Vegans go without CLA entirely, proving that CLA is not necessary for a healthy diet. CLA may not be an essential nutrient, but it is a very interesting fat with likely health benefits.

The bench science and animal model data regarding these and other benefits of CLA is incredible. The human data, which tests the supplement version, is admittedly not as impressive.

There are two recent studies of interest, a link between more CLA and a lower risk of developing diabetes and a very interesting human study looking at CLA concentrations in fat tissue and the risk of a first heart attack.

For more about CLA, take a look at this piece , which also links to the study abstract. I prefer food sources to synthetic vitamins. We do know, however, that our bodies are the products of thousands of years of evolution. Until the rise of the Modern American Diet MAD in the last century, that long evolutionary process was fed entirely with whole, natural foods.

It is expensive, bad for the planet and has been associated with heart disease and cancer risk. But there are several significant differences in the nutritional quality of grass fed beef — notably a better mix of fats, a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats and increased quantities of antioxidants like vitamins E and beta-carotene.

Another indicator is that in countries where traditional grass-fed cattle are the only sources of beef and dairy products, heart disease rates are lower.

CLA, mentioned above, is found in concentrations to percent higher in grass-fed beef. As for the links to heart disease and cancer, these tend to be for higher levels of consumption — like 1. And the link is not as clear in the scientific data as one would think. Dietary cholesterol consumption is not the problem it is often made out to be.

Most foods high in cholesterol content -- like shrimp, eggs, and grass-fed beef --offer lots of brain nutrients, low calories and are very satiating. Grass-fed beef is not as tough on the environment as the feed-dependent factory farmed beef, but there is no doubt that beef is still very energy intensive to produce — one reason it should be expensive.

In general, most Americans eat too much of the wrong kind of beef. Drew Ramsey, M. Drew Ramsey M. The Farmacy. Diet Essential Reads. How a Corn-Based Diet Led to Mental Illness. How a Mediterranean Diet Can Help Fight Teen Depression.

About the Author. More from Drew Ramsey M. More from Psychology Today. Back Psychology Today. Back Find a Therapist.

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