Good Grub: The Healthiest Meat

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM · October 12, 2012 · Volume 10

4.9/5 - (28 votes)

Of all animals, the bodies of insects may have the lowest saturated fat content.

Discuss

Transcript

Thanks to the Chinese space program, scientists in Beijing recently published a formal nutritional analysis of what may be the healthiest animal to eat: “Insect food for astronauts…the nutritional value of…insects for human consumption during deep space flights.”

More arginine than soybeans. More zinc than pumpkin seeds. More protein than even snail meat. The selling point, though, is their low saturated fat content. Especially when they’re baked, not fried. And one pound of powdered worms gets you all the vitamin B12 you need for the day.

“Could an African caterpillar be the new beefsteak?” “Just three and a half ounces of caterpillars can provide all of an adult’s recommended daily protein, along with iron, B vitamins, and other essential nutrients.” And they’re efficient. Whereas we waste about 90% of nutrients when we feed grains to cows, less than half the nutrition of edible plants is wasted when we route them through bugs.

Described as “an endless source of protein,” but how do they taste? They are considered highly nutritious, and “also have a pleasant taste.” What exactly do they taste like? Well, people have said that “the taste of the beetles is varied;” just to compare it something everyone’s familiar with, “they reported their similarity to octopus.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Sources

Acknowledgements

Images thanks to Steve Begin and the tαttσσed tentαcle via flickr, and JENN.

Topics

Thanks to the Chinese space program, scientists in Beijing recently published a formal nutritional analysis of what may be the healthiest animal to eat: “Insect food for astronauts…the nutritional value of…insects for human consumption during deep space flights.”

More arginine than soybeans. More zinc than pumpkin seeds. More protein than even snail meat. The selling point, though, is their low saturated fat content. Especially when they’re baked, not fried. And one pound of powdered worms gets you all the vitamin B12 you need for the day.

“Could an African caterpillar be the new beefsteak?” “Just three and a half ounces of caterpillars can provide all of an adult’s recommended daily protein, along with iron, B vitamins, and other essential nutrients.” And they’re efficient. Whereas we waste about 90% of nutrients when we feed grains to cows, less than half the nutrition of edible plants is wasted when we route them through bugs.

Described as “an endless source of protein,” but how do they taste? They are considered highly nutritious, and “also have a pleasant taste.” What exactly do they taste like? Well, people have said that “the taste of the beetles is varied;” just to compare it something everyone’s familiar with, “they reported their similarity to octopus.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Images thanks to Steve Begin and the tαttσσed tentαcle via flickr, and JENN.

Doctor's Note

A pound a day of powdered worms? There are safer and cheaper sources of vitamin B12; see Safest Source of B12, and Cheapest Source of Vitamin B12. What about arginine? Worms, whales, pork rinds, and what else? See Fat Burning Via Arginine. Sourcing protein from plants may still be preferable (see Plant Protein Preferable), despite what the Paleo diet folks assert. As seen in today’s video, that appears to be the direction the American space program is going. What are the downsides to eating insects, though? That’s the subject of our next video; see Bug Appétit: Barriers to Entomophagy.

For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Adding FDA-Approved Viruses to Meat, and What Is the Healthiest Meat?

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