Wagyu industry told fat may be a nutrition booster our bodies need

Protein-rich foods are not so valuable to our nutritional requirements unless they can be properly digested, allowing the human body to access the essential micronutrient vitamins and minerals they contain.

That makes animal products, rich in amino acids, such as beef, milk and eggs, highly desirable as key sources of accessible protein, especially when compared with popular plant-based options such as almonds, lentils and tofu.

New nutritional research has suggested fat content in meat may also help the human body's small intestine digest protein more efficiently.

"We're starting to become aware just how the fattiness in meat can influence digestibility," said food scientist, Anneline Padayachee.

"There's a door opening up to a whole new world of important nutritional understanding."

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Dr Padayachee, also known as the The Food and Nutrition Doctor, was a speaker at last week's Wagyu Edge 2023 conference in Sydney.

Citing research published last month from Massey University in New Zealand, she said striploin and tenderloin beef, which had higher fat content than other cuts, also appeared to have promoted amino acid responses which assisted digestibility and nutrient absorption opportunities.

The protein digestibility results had been relatively similar, regardless of whether the meat was from pasture- or lot-fed cattle.

Dr Padayachee noted, importantly, the trials involved non-Wagyu beef cuts, which meant they would have been naturally lower in unsaturated fat, usually considered a healthier fat.

Given Wagyu beef's unsaturated fat levels tended to be twice as high as its saturated fat content, the early indicators were implying meat cuts with higher unsaturated levels had even better protein digestibility.

"There's an astronomical release of amino acids going on," she said.

"It is surprising to find the meat which was fattier had the better digestibility results, but that's also an indication of how much more there is to learn about factors affecting protein quality, digestibility and absorption."

Individualised nutrition requirements and how much protein was absorbed into the body were "the new frontier" for the relatively young science of human nutrition.

True protein quality was determined by assessing its amino acid composition, including how much, and which, vital amino acids were in a food source.

"When you talk about protein, you're really talking about what you actually need from your food," said Brisbane-based Dr Padayachee.

While eggs, milk, beef, lamb and chicken proteins all boasted high digestible indispensable amino acid scores above 108, the only plant proteins with "good" DIAAS were soybeans (100) and chickpeas (83).

That left the likes of almonds, lentils, kidney beans and pinto beans to rate as "low quality", scoring below 75.

In fact, while an 80 gram serving of steak provided a useful 21g of protein, the human body had to consume about 240g, or 2.5 cups, of tofu to get the same quantity of protein.

At the same time, tofu's indispensable protein digestibility rating was just 52.

Dr Padayachee noted good digestibility outcomes were also dependent on a combination of complementary foods, including vegetables, fruit, high fibre cereals and legumes, to help generate the amino acid and gut flora activity that promoted nutrition uptake in the intestine before it reached the bowel.

Unfortunately, however, Australia and New Zealand had the highest rate of bowel cancer in the world and ranked about fourth on the global obesity scale (at 30pc) because our diet did not include enough fibre and vegetable servings with our meat.

Those statistics were in stark contrast with other wealthy nations such as Japan, Italy and France, where meals were more likely to be an eclectic mix based on vegetables as the main dish, supplemented by smaller meat servings and plenty of fish.

Moderate quantities and quality food were also characteristic of those wealthy societies with low obesity and cancer rates.

"The science is quite clear. We need a full range of foods," Dr Padayachee said.

"Beef does not cause cancer.

"It's not the fault of beef producers if we're not eating enough vegetables.

"Cigarettes most definitely cause cancer; genetics and lifestyle issues can cause cancer, and lack of dietary fibre causes cancer.

"If you're a beef producer you are providing the world with a powerhouse of nutritionally dense, healthy food."

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