The Unintended Consequences of Clean Energy on Your Nutrition
Is “Clean Energy” Quietly PUFA-ing Our Food?
Most people know why seed oils are a problem. They’re extremely high in the unstable polyunsaturated fat linoleic acid, an omega-6 that slows metabolic rate, increases oxidative stress, damages DNA, and literally changes the composition of our body fat. (More info on the health consequences of PUFAs here).
We all know the saying “you are what you eat,” but here’s the part most people forget:
Animals are what they eat, too.
Which means the fatty acids inside your food come directly from the fatty acids inside their feed.
So what happens when livestock are fed diets unnaturally high in omega-6 PUFAs?
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- Their fat becomes PUFA-loaded.
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- And then your food becomes PUFA-loaded.
This shift has been happening quietly for years, and today, the fatty acid profile of most animal foods looks nothing like the nutrient-rich fats our great-great-grandparents relied on.
The Link Between "Clean Energy" Biofuel and Your Food
One of the biggest drivers of this “fat swap” traces back to modern “clean energy” production.
I am not saying we shouldn’t go out of our way to create a cleaner environment. But are there unintended consequences with current methods?
Across the U.S., massive quantities of GMO corn (often grown with heavy herbicide use, including glyphosate) are produced for ethanol: a biofuel blended into gasoline.
During ethanol production, the corn starch is extracted and fermented into alcohol that becomes fuel.
And what’s left behind?
A giant pile of byproduct known as DDGS: Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles.
DDGS is a cheap, high-PUFA, highly concentrated corn leftover.
And the livestock industry has become heavily dependent on it.
Why Industrial Agriculture Loves DDGS
DDGS became popular not because it’s nutritionally ideal, but because it’s economical.
It’s:
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- extremely cheap
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- high in crude protein
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- high in phosphorus
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- high in energy
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- widely available
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- and dramatically lowers the cost per pound of gain
In short, ethanol plants needed somewhere to send their leftover waste, and industrial agriculture needed cheap feed. A perfect storm.
But the downsides? They’re enormous.
The Problems With DDGS
DDGS brings with it a cascade of nutritional and metabolic effects:
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- extremely high omega-6 PUFA (linoleic acid)
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- pesticide residues including glyphosate are concentrated (which the livestock eat and deposit in your food)
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- oxidized fats stress animal metabolism
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- altered egg yolk fatty acid profiles (more PUFAs)
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- reduced pork fat quality (more PUFAs)
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- changes in beef fat composition (more PUFAs)
In other words, DDGS reshapes the fat in our entire food supply.
Which Animals Are Fed DDGS?
DDGS is heavily used in:
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- Chicken feed
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- Feedlot beef rations
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- Dairy cow feed
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- Pig feed
Feedlot pigs and cows are the two largest consumers, and this is why the composition of beef and pork fat has changed so dramatically over the past century.
Our animal fats are no longer the animal fats that nourished generations before us.
Want the Full Breakdown?
This might be one of the most important YouTube videos I’ve ever made.
If you want to understand how corn biofuel is reshaping the food system and what it means for metabolic health watch here:
A Different Way Forward
At Nourish Food Club and Angel Acres, we do not use DDGS in any of our livestock feed. (Which is a very common feed ingredient! Even in feed rations for pasture-raised chickens and pigs!)
We wanted no part of this, so we custom make our own feed.
Our eggs, poultry, and pork, and beef are raised on corn- and soy-free, low-PUFA (lab tested) custom-made feed, and our dairy cows and beef are 100% grass-fed, all raised regenerative farms with transparency at every step.
Because clean food isn’t just a preference, it’s the foundation of real metabolic health.
