Ostrich Meat Facts

Even though, there has been lots of hue and cry over red meat consumption, many people still satisfy their taste buds with delicious red meat dishes. This piece of good news is for those, who love red meat and don't want to avoid it in the name of healthy eating habits. You may now think about the relation between ostrich and healthy eating? The answer is simple - ostrich meat is considered as one of the healthy meats. How it is healthy and how can it be related to beef and other red meat? Scroll down for ostrich meat facts that can give you the answers for these questions.

Facts about Ostrich Meat
We all know that ostrich is a bird and its meat comes under poultry. Unlike the meat of most of the other birds that come under poultry, ostrich meat is red. Ostrich meat is considered as red meat and is fast replacing beef and other red meat, due to various reasons. The following are some of the ostrich meat facts that can help you understand the reasons for its popularity.

• Ostrich meat resembles beef in looks and taste, but it is very low in calories, fat and cholesterol.
• When compared to other types of white meat, like chicken and turkey, ostrich meat has low fat content and the calories in ostrich meat is also very low. To be more precise, ostrich meat has 66% less fat than beef, 50% less fat than chicken and less calories than chicken, turkey, pork, lamb and beef.
• Ostrich meat is rich in proteins and contains more iron than beef, lamb, turkey, chicken and pork.
• Unlike chicken and turkey, there is no breast meat for ostrich. Ostrich meat is mostly taken from the legs, thighs and the back of these birds.
• It can also be observed that ostrich meat does not have fat marbling, as seen in beef. As the fat in these birds is deposited outside the muscles, the fatty parts are easily removed at the time of processing itself.
• The popularity of ostrich meat may also be due to its sweeter and richer taste when compared to other types of meat. You can buy it as burgers, sausages, fillets, prime steaks, diced and stir fry. This meat can also be used as a replacement for other meats in your favorite recipes.
• If you want to try out some recipes, the following information may help you. If the cut meat is labeled as tender, it should be broiled, grilled or fried and those with medium-tender ratings should be poached or braised. For roasting and stir-frying, you can use all cuts. The leg meat of ostrich is mostly processed or ground.
• For cooking, it has to be noted that ostrich meat cooks faster, as it has very low fat content.

Ostrich meat facts would be incomplete without any information regarding its nutritional value. The following paragraph deals with the nutritional value of ostrich meat.

Ostrich Meat Nutrition
Three ounces of ostrich meat contains almost 22 grams of protein, two grams of fat, 58 milligram of cholesterol, five milligram of calcium and amounts to around 97 calories. The following tables can give you the details of the vitamins and minerals content for 100 grams of ostrich meat.

Minerals	Value
Potassium	353 mg
Phosphorus	245 mg
Sodium	77 mg
Selenium	36.6 µ
Magnesium	25 mg
Calcium	6 mg
Zinc	4.72 mg
Iron	3.31 mg
Copper	0.148 mg
Manganese	0.018 mg

Vitamins	Value
Vitamin A	0 IU
Pantothenic Acid (vitamin B5)	1.301 mg
Thiamin (vitamin B1)	0.229 mg
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)	0.289 mg
Niacin (vitamin B3)	7.051 mg
Vitamin B12	6.17 µg
Vitamin B6	0.538 mg
Folate	15 µg
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	0.23 µg
Folate (DFE per 100g)	15

Now you have the answer for the question, is ostrich meat healthy? All these ostrich meat facts may prompt you to avoid beef, lamb, pork and even chicken and turkey. Even health experts and nutritionists are recommending ostrich meat for their clients and urging them to avoid some other fat rich, red meats, which may lead to diseases like, arteriosclerosis. Earlier, these birds were farmed for their feathers, but now, their commercial value has escalated with the popularity of ostrich meat.