Impact of Beef on Metabolites and Inflammation

Western omnivore diets tend to use beef as a good source of protein. Studies have shown cattle who are fed different diets results in varying nutritional meat profiles in terms of amino acids, types and relative amounts of fat, and other nutrients. While overlap between organic and conventionally raised beef is expected, dietary impacts on human health are potentially meaningful as small changes in diet may have large downstream effects on human metabolism. To date, no studies have been conducted in humans that evaluate the health effects of organic grass-fed beef consumption to conventionally-fed beef consumption. To fill this gap in research, the investigators propose to identify metabolic differences in response to consumption of organic grass-fed compared to conventional-fed beef on a wide array of blood borne nutrients including amino acids, lipids, bile acids, and hundreds of other metabolites. This comprehensive analysis is expected to differentiate nutritional and metabolic impacts relevant to human health and provide a foundation for future research. The purpose of this study is to determine how a beef steak meal may affect bile acids in the gut, inflammation, and the metabolic health of healthy individuals. This research will investigate the following questions: 1. How do specific foods affect bile acids in the blood? 2. How do specific foods changes inflammation, metabolism, and other health measures? If researchers learn how food affects different health related markers in the blood and how that may influence health, then this information can be used to do more research to improve the health of people in a future study.