Date of Award:

12-2025

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Stephan van Vliet

Committee

Stephan van Vliet

Committee

Mateja Savoie Roskos

Committee

Heidi Wengreen

Committee

Fred Provenza

Committee

Michael LeFevre

Abstract

Increasing consumer demand for sustainable, animal-friendly food options has sparked discussion about farming production practices. As more people prioritize their food choices, questions have circulated about how farming practices might impact not just the environment, but also human health. Regenerative agriculture is a farming method that has gained popularity for its potential to improve both food quality and environmental outcomes. It focuses on restoring ecosystem function, ultimately impacting the resulting nutrients in food products, and includes foods like grass-fed meat and organic produce. However, it is still unclear whether these practices make a difference in human health. This dissertation informs this question through the results of two clinical trials focused on varying food production methods and their influence on health markers. The first study evaluated the immediate inflammatory effects of different protein sources-grass-fed beef, grain-fed beef, and a plant-based meat alternative. The participants ate one of the protein options at each visit, followed by blood collection over a five-hour window. While the nutrient content varied between the protein sources, there were no significant differences in acute inflammatory response. This might be because of the intricate nature of inflammation, which is influenced by many factors like sleep, stress, medication, and overall diet. In the second study, participants followed two different whole foods diets: one sourced solely from regenerative farms and one from conventional farms. Both diets led to improvements in health, likely because of the shift away from ultra-processed, convenient foods. Some small differences in inflammation and fatty acid profiles were observed between the two diets, though these differences were not significant nor did they produce substantial clinical or practical outcomes.

Together, the findings from these clinical trials show that while regenerative farming practices result in small differences in the nutrient content of food, the observed magnitude of change may not be large enough to translate into meaningful health effects during short-term periods. Instead, our findings suggest that a person’s health benefits substantially from eating more whole foods as part of their regular diet. More research is needed to fully understand whether these small effects could accumulate over time or are more meaningful in different populations.

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