carbs consumed by animals present in meat?

Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

BTN

Sir Benjamin Nunn wrote:
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

Yes, the makeup of meat is different depending on the diet.
Pasture-raised meat and dairy have much larger proportions of CLA than
grain-fed.

However, the carbohydrate in non-organ meats doesn't change at all -
muscle meats don't contain carbs. The difference I describe above is a
difference in the fatty acids that make up the fat.

And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

This is a very large topic. You are basically asking what happens to
carbs, protein and fat when they are eaten and turned into bits of the
body. I could type for a week and only cover it in a very general
sense, leaving lots of bits out...

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

On Sep 25, 5:18 am, "Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote:
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

Let's think on this. A cow, in the wild (this is a bizarre notion to
me, but...),
eats grasses. Well, forget the cow, let's go with the wild cow, the
buffalo (loose
but workable for the purposes of our discussion). It roams the high
plains. It
eats grass. Maybe it gets some bugs in with it grass, but it doesn't
eat
prairie dogs by accident (it probably spits it out if that happens).
Yet, the muscle
of the buffalo is mostly water and protein, with some small amount of
fat (depending
on the muscle, but buffalo tend to lean) and some trace amount of
carb. Yet, it's
diet, naturally, is mostly carb. Clearly, it's not only possible, but
it happens.

Chickens, left to roam, eat other grasses, bugs, and tasty nuggets out
of cow crap.
I would guess it's pretty high in carb. Yet, they be protein.

As Jackie points out, the big difference is in the fat composition.
I'm not smart/rich
enough to worry about that.

And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

In the human body, you can take protein and make sugar. You can take
fat, and
make energy. I'm a business major, not a biochemist, but maybe you can
make
protein out of carbs assuming you have the right add ons (I think it's
mostly a matter
of nitrogen, but again, I cut a lot of chemistry and biology in high
school). Animals
that eat carbs probably have the mechanism to add the nitrogen (from
dietary sources)
to their CHO molecules, and synthesize what they need. That's the
assumption I'm
working under. But, when the chips hit the fan, I don't worry about
this too much. For
me, an animal can be a bit of a black box. Sympathetic, wonderful,
dopey, whatever, but
inputs in, steaks out.

*Anti-Vegetarian Asbestos Fire Suit On*

"Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote:

Is the chlorine used when making sodium chloride present
in the salt? This question is rather like that advertising
jingle "Splenda - Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar".
Salt - Made from poison gas and burning metal so it tastes
like poison gas. Cows - Made from grass so they give paper
cuts just like grass and taaste just like grass.

In other words, no. The carb consumption of cows is not
reflected int he carb content of their meat. The carbs are
digested by cows just as the carbs are digested by us
humans.

Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

Not with respect to carbs. There is some impact on the types
of fatty acids in the fat - Cows feed on grass and weeds have
more omega-3 fatty acids than cows stuffed with grain. They
also grow more slowly so grain fed cattle are more profitable.

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

The carbs are burned for energy. The energy gets used to
build the meat. The protein has to come from the grass the
cows eat. Some of the carbs are converted to fat.

And if so, how does the science work?

Check out a college freshmen college textbook and look at
how proteins, carbs and fats are synthesized. The science is
well known and at the freshman level (or AP courses in high
school) but it is well beyond the scope of UseNet here.

Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

Protein can not as it contains nitrogen and often sulfur. Carbs
and fat can be converted back and forth but the process is
very inefficient. In fact, the metabolic advantage of low fat
plans is that inefficiency.

Sir Benjamin Nunn wrote:
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

BTN



Evidently, the carbon 13 isotope is present in corn in an unusual ratio.

This unusual ratio of carbon 13 is present in the meat of an animal
raised on this corn. Caarbon 13 isn't a poison, but it a marker, so it
has been claimed, for detecting grass fed vs corn fed beef.

Another marker for corn fed beef is claimed to be the percentage of
saturated fat in the fat portion of the meat.

Are you thinking that if you eat a lot of carbohydrates, then you have a
lot of carbohydrate stored or incorporated into your muscles? That would
be the logical consequence of your initial question above.

There are many conversions possible between fat, carbohydrate and
protein. One limitation is that since protein contains nitrogen in the
form of amino acids, and there is no nitrogen present in fats or
carbohydrates, then your body can't make proteins from fats or
carbohydrates.

The best thing for you is to read some kind of a book explaining how
whatever diet you undertake works. Or read the information on a website
dedicated to that particular diet.

If a food animal eats carbs, you don't get carby meat. However, if the
animal is eating industrial waste or aflatoxins, you might get a mouthful.


"Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote in message
...
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?

And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

BTN

Hollywood wrote:

As Jackie points out, the big difference is in the fat composition.
I'm not smart/rich
enough to worry about that.

I figured that myself. Sometimes I bought meat and dairy from
pasture-raised animals, but it was so much more expensive that more
often I got the cheaper stuff. We were saving our money diligently to
buy land and once that was accomplished, we'd be eating pasture-raised
food forever, but in the meantime... well, sometimes chicken leg
quarters went on sale for $.29/lb and you just can't beat that.

However, CLA is important stuff. It's a prime candidate for the
difference between why there was almost no heart disease a hundred years
ago vs. now. There's a ton of very good research showing it's effects
on inflammation and metabolism. You can buy CLA as a supplement, but
it's so darned expensive that the pasture-raised meat and dairy start
looking like a good deal.

I am still out-of-work from my MI in May and my husband has only been
back to work for a month as he was busy caretaking me for a time. We
exhuasted all savings and ran up a lot of debt just keeping ourselves
fed and the utilities on, let alone the medical bills and meds running
between $400-1000 per month. So we're real, real broke right now. And
I only eat pasture-raised meat and dairy and organic fruits and
vegetables now - almost all whole foods, no processed stuff. It is
expensive compared to eating typical grocery fare, but I have decided
that saving money on food is false economy.

I figure it like this... had I begun doing this 2-3 years earlier and
not had the MI, we'd be $20000-30000 ahead, NOT counting the medical
expenses. The expenses related to the heart attack and unemployment
would've WAY more than paid for more expensive food. Had I chosen to be
"less frugal" about food years ago, I wouldn't *know* we were that far
ahead, I'd think I was spending more money. But we'd be WAY ahead.

Animals
that eat carbs probably have the mechanism to add the nitrogen (from
dietary sources)
to their CHO molecules, and synthesize what they need. That's the
assumption I'm
working under.

Plants make protein from nitrogen in soil.

Legume plants make it from atmospheric nitrogen in the air (with help
from bacteria), which is ultimately where all protein comes from.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

"Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote

Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?
In other words, if an animal eats a diet of mostly carbohydrate (like
corn-fed chicken), does that make the meat more carby, or is it still all
protein/fat?
And if so, how does the science work? Is it possible for one type to
effectively be converted to another.

Essentially it's the reason why we hunt/raise animals for food instead of
eating grass etc ourselves.

The way it works is this:

Animals consume (more or less carb-high) plants.

Their bodies convert those nutriments into (more or less carb-low) meat.

We kill the animals and eat the meat.

That's how the science works.

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

"Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote in message
...
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

Check out the USDA database for info on carbs, protein, etc.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

I have no idea what the little guys eat, but they sure are tasty :-)

Mike

"em" writes:

"Sir Benjamin Nunn" wrote in message
...
Is the makeup of meat affected by the diet of the animal?

Check out the USDA database for info on carbs, protein, etc.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

I have no idea what the little guys eat, but they sure are tasty :-)

Great MST3K line from Crow, when the narrator of a short is talking
about studies of animal intelligence:

"How do animals learn? Well, as long as they learn to taste good, I
don't really care."



--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz