Cooking with animal fat is on trend, and may be healthy.

Ultra-processed foods. Soda and sugary drinks. Seed oils. Raw milk.

Like any other year, 2025 ushers in a wave of health fads, with products to avoid or embrace. Among them, one particular substance stands out, a product driven by a fusion of motivations, a connection to our primitive roots and a yearning for simplicity in our food. It reflects a desire to return to basics, to an era before strange, unpronounceable ingredients became a staple of our diets.

This year, that substance is tallow – most popularly, beef and sheep fat.

“It’s blowing up” says Andrew Renard, co-owner of Kitchen Table Cultures. “I’ve got 12-year-olds wanting to buy it because of [this] ‘tallow man’ on Instagram.”

Tallow has been around since, well, the beginning of eating animals – which might explain why so many find comfort in it. It feels familiar. Many cultures and cuisines have long embraced tallow for cooking (and still do) as well as appreciate the idea that more of the animal is being used rather than discarded.

For Jorge Casas, co-founder of Casas de Humo Barbeque, tallow has always been a staple in his family’s cooking – from burgers to baking. His wife, he notes, goes through about 32 ounces of tallow every two weeks, and his daughter even uses it as chapstick.

“Instead of throwing this stuff away, there’s now a market for it, which is great,” Casas says. “A lot of people have been asking about it as a replacement to seed oil.”

Tallow has become popular among the hippies and the homesteaders, the muscle-men and the political fringe. U.S. Health Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used it as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, selling shirts and hats that read “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again,” a nod to the days when McDonald’s famously fried its French fries in tallow.

The wave of attention on ultra-processed foods has brought with it a scrupulous attention to the ingredient lists on the back of our food packaging. A cornerstone of this tallow tide is skepticism in seed oils, specifically canola, soybean and sunflower oil.

“Seed oils are a major driver of chronic illness,” Paul Saladino, a physician-turned-influencer who has spread the carnivore gospel, told his almost 3.5 million followers on TikTok and Instagram.

“Despite the reluctance around seed oils, there are currently no human studies that draw a clear connection between seed oils and harm to human health,” says Fuad Al Qudsi, a registered nutritionist based in Carmel. “The fear around seed oils is unfounded and, frankly, a very serious threat to public health.”

While many nutritionists say the seed oil/tallow debate has been fueled by conflicting information and misinformation, the public’s demand for healthier foods is driving tallow’s rising popularity.

But how healthy is tallow, really, and how should we approach it in the marketplace?

The science on tallow’s nutritional value unveils benefits and concerns. It’s touted as an excellent substance to cook with because of its flavor and high smoke point. It provides nutrients like conjugated linoleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids (when grass-fed), and vitamins K2 and E.

However, the concern for many nutritionists lies in the amount of saturated fat. “One tablespoon provides 6 grams, which may contribute to increased serum cholesterol levels if consumed in excess,” says Ally Lessa, a registered dietician in Pacific Grove. “Dietary guidelines suggest limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of daily calories.”

Tallow, like any other food, can vary in quality from highly processed to high-quality. The same questions you ask about the meat itself should also apply to the fat. Grass-fed tallow, without added preservatives or hydrogenation, tends to have a better nutrient profile than grain-fed.

“If you frequently cook at high temperatures, tallow’s stability can be an advantage, but it’s still essential to balance its use with other fats lower in saturated [fat],” Lessa explains. “Neither fat is inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ To navigate the noise, focus on moderation, variety and evidence-based nutrition, rather than polarizing views.”