What is Meat?
There are multiple meat facts that you don’t know, but before we learn those facts, let us know what is meat. Meat is the flesh of animals (be it seafood, white, red, or pink).
The meat is usually seasoned, processed, and cooked. The domestication of animals like chickens, pigs, cattle, goat, sheep, etc. and the advent of slaughterhouses paved the way for mass production and consumption of meat.
Note:
Meat is defined in various ways. Meat is usually defined as the flesh of mammals. Most of the time, fish, poultry, insects, or seafood is not included in the definition.
Sometimes, edible part of something covered by husk or shell is also called meat. Example: Coconut meat. In the above description, we used the word meat in a general sense including the flesh of mammals, fish, poultry, seafood, insects, etc.
Meat is highly nutritious and needless to say, tasty. There are many people who need meat in some or other form in their meals. Meat is healthy but if you eat too much meat, it is not good for your body. Today, we will learn a lot more mind-blowing meat facts. Shall we begin?
Meat Facts 1-10
1. The word meat originates from Old English word, ‘mete’ meaning food in general.
2. Meat of pigs and cattle is called pork and beef. Meat of sheep, calves, and deer is called mutton, veal and venison respectively.
3. It is a high-quality protein that contains most of the essential amino acids. Amino acids help in building muscles, improves immunity, helps in maintaining healthy metabolism. Humans don’t produce every essential amino acid in the body and hence, we need to eat protein sources like meat to fulfill the daily requirements of the amino acids.
4. It provides more protein per a serving. Meat gives around 23 grams of protein for 3 ounces, legumes give 12 grams for a three-fourth cup, dairy gives 8 grams for a cup, eggs provide 6 grams of protein for each egg, and nuts and vegetables provide 2 to 5 grams of protein per serving.
5. An average British household spends about €12.5 per week on meat and its preparations. In one week, it spends around the same amount on alcohol.
6. There are 40 times poultry or chickens than people in Brunei.
7. Denmark has over twice as many as pigs as human beings. The French population eats 60% more cheese, four times butter, and over three times pork than the rest of the world’s population.
8. There are around 19 billion chickens on our planet. They outnumber us by three to one (nearly).
9. One of the oldest meats consumed was bacon. Chinese were known to preserve pork bellies around 1500 BCE.
10. A cow (not all cattle) is more valuable for its butter, yogurt/curds, milk, and cheese than its beef.
Meat Facts 11-20
11. Meat and its products are one of the six main food groups that are necessary to consume for maintaining our health.
12. The other five food groups are whole grains and starchy vegetables, healthy oils or fats, fruits and non-starchy vegetables, elective calories, and dairy and non-dairy products.
13. New Zealand has 7.5 times sheep and 2.3 times cows than humans. Uruguay has 3.7 cows for every person.
14. An average American consumes 88.3 kilograms of meat every month! Britishers, on the other hand, eat around 44.9 kilograms.
15. Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane on 18 February 1930. The first man to milk a flying cow was Elsworth W Bumce.
16. The word carnival means farewell to meat relating to the Christian tradition to give up meat during Lent.
17. 95% of the meat that we consume is digested.
18. The most consumed meat is the beef. Veal (meat of cattle) contains less fat than beef.
19. The second most consumed meat in the world is pork. Meat from pigs is produced on a very large scale and meat from lambs is produced on a small scale.
20. The usual methods used to preserve meat are freezing, refrigerating, freeze-drying, canning, and curing.
Meat Facts 21-30
21. The meat consumption strengthens immunity, helps in the formation of RBC (Red Blood Cells), muscle cells, hormones, and improves the functioning of the nervous system.
22. Meat also helps our thyroid function, improves antioxidants, and impacts sense of smell and taste.
23. Meat is rich in several important nutrients like iron, niacin, riboflavin, potassium, zinc, selenium, and thiamine.
24. When you consume meat, it takes longer to digest. Hence, you stay satiated for longer hours. This helps you in either controlling your weight or even losing weight.
25. One of the natural sources of vitamin B12 is meat. Vitamin B12 helps in maintaining functions of nervous system and brain and normal metabolism.
26. The first meal consumed on the moon was freeze-dried cubes of bacon.
27. According to some researchers of New Castle University, bacon sandwich can cure a hangover!
28. The two of the oldest cats lived for 38 and 34 years. They both were owned by the same person and one of the major part of their diet was bacon.
29. According to a survey conducted by Smithfield showed that over 65% of the American population would opt bacon as their national food.
30. The first year that saw consumption of fish surpassing the consumption of beef was 2013.
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