Meat Product Dishes

Foods of animal origin are foods derived from animals like cow, goat, fish and insects that are not unclean. It includes red meat, white meat, some types of fish, and seafood. It also includes eggs, milk, insects, and internal parts of the animal’s stomach, like intestines, kidneys, and liver. White meat includes chicken, pigeon, bird and fish. Red meat includes beef, beef, goat and not least mutton.

Animal products like butter and ghee are not recommended. They have been removed from this group of recommended animal foods because of their high fat content. Processed meat is not in this group because it increases the risk of causing chronic non-communicable diseases.

When eating foods of animal origin, choose seafood, insects, and white meat every day. Include milk and its products as often as possible. Here be guided by the law of God in choosing foods.

Leviticus 20:25 For this you shall distinguish between a clean animal and an unclean animal, and between a circumcised bird and an unclean bird; and you shall not make yourselves abominations by means of animals, or by means of birds, or by means of anything that the earth is full of, which I separated from you as unclean.

The Dangers of Red or Processed Meat

Fish, poultry, and insects are good choices among animal-based foods because these foods contain healthy fatty acids. Eating these foods reduces the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure and stroke. Insects are nutritious and easy to breed. Also, breeding insects is more environmentally friendly. It is compared to the production of other foods of animal origin.

The benefits of eating meat-based foods include:

• It is a great source of protein
• Holds all amino acids because animals eat different leaves than humans. Hence, eating meat helps the body to get amino acids that can not be produced by nature. Animals that eat leaves have enzymes that can fully break down the nutrients in leaves. So when we eat meat, we get all kinds of amino acids stored in the animal’s body.  Thus, it provides the body with better protein than what we find in plant-based foods
• Meat products provide iron, zinc, and vitamins A and B. These nutrients are especially important for healthy growth and development.
• They contain iron, which can be digested and absorbed as part of the food in the stomach. This process helps prevent anemia due to iron deficiency.
• Helps in the growth and production of body tissues.
• Protein is also used as a source of energy in the body

Consuming red meat is detrimental to your health. It can increase your chances of developing heart disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. It holds significant levels of saturated fat, which can raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. Elevated cholesterol can result in plaque accumulation and atherosclerosis, which can heighten the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Red meat contains more B vitamins, iron, and zinc than white meat. But, people are advised to limit their intake of red meat. Excessive consumption of red meat is linked to an increased risk of chronic non-communicable diseases. Saturated fats are in the muscles (white marbling) of red meat. They are also in the skin of chicken, eggs, and cheese. Red meat also contains hydrogenated fats that increase the risk of heart disease.

Red Meat Alternatives

Milk

Eating eggs can greatly increase the quality of a child’s diet and reduce stunting (Lannoi et al., 2017). Eggs are high in fat. Yet, they are not linked to the risk of heart disease or stroke. This is true except in people with diabetes (Rong and others, 2013). Also, eating one egg a day helps reduce the risk of stroke (Alexander et al., 2016).

Milk is also a source of resin, vitamin B2, vitamin A and potassium. Milk fat is used as a cleaning agent to nourish vitamins A, D, E and K. Still, the oil of milk contains a large amount of saturated fat. Thus, low-fat milk is best for those on a diet plan. It helps reduce the amount of fat consumed per meal. Whole milk or milk fat is important for growing children.

Fish

Fish is a good source of fats and oils that are good for heart health and cell performance. Fish is also a good source of minerals like calcium and vitamin A (Willet and others, 2019). Eating two pieces of fish the size of a matchbox during pregnancy helps the child’s brain development. It aids in building the brain of the child in the womb.

Fish the size of the palm of your hand contributes to the brain development of the child. Fish also helps to build the brain of the child after birth (Oken and others, 2008). Eating seafood and small fish with their bones increases the possibility of getting calcium minerals.

White Meat

White meat of chicken and bird is better for health than red meat like beef and lamb. Don’t eat the skin of the bird because it has a lot of cholesterol. Fish, including small fish eaten with bones, is also healthier. White meat has less saturated fat than red meat.

It is recommended when eating foods of animal origin, to choose fish, chicken meat instead of red meat. Eating more chicken, quail, fish, and nut-type foods lowers the risk of heart disease significantly. (WHO, 2015a; Abete et al., 2014).

Edible Insects:

Insects provide resin, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, and dietary fiber. They also have amino acids, omega-3 and omega-6 fats, and antioxidants that prevent cell damage. By weight, insects have a higher amount of resin than resin from meat, dairy products and seeds. (Hlongwane, Slotow and Munyai, 2020; Oibiokpa and others, 2018).

Insects have between 12 and 77 grams of resin per 100 grams (Hlongwane, Slotow and Munyai, 2020). Fish, chicken, and beef have between 13 and 31 grams of protein. Digestion of sap from insects is between 76 percent and 98 percent (Ramos-Elorduy, 1997).

Locusts and ‘edible caterpillars’ have nutrients like copper, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. These nutrients are more easily absorbed than those found in beef. Some insects, like locusts, have more omega-6 and omega-3 fats than beef. Insects also have high amounts of minerals like as iron, zinc, manganese and phosphorus (Rumpold and Schluter, 2013). Locusts give 12-73 grams of resin per 100 grams. (Hlongwane, Slotow and Munyai, 2020; Bukkens, 1997).

Processed Meat

Processed meat is meat that has been altered by salting, spices, fermentation or other processes for added flavor or preservation. Nitrate is widely used as a preservative in processed meat (WCRF, 2018). Examples of processed meat include canned meat, which is preserved with salt. Other examples are sausage, sausage in bread, and ground meat egg-chops, which is eaten in sandwiches.

Cured meat products and beef salami are also considered processed meats. The World Health Organization has put the risk of eating processed meat in the same group as smoking (WHO, 2015). According to the 2019 global disease report, eating more than 22.5 grams of processed meat per day increases the risk. This amount leads to an unhealthy high intake of processed meat (GBD, 2019). Thus, it is recommended to avoid processed meat.