Which is Better, Horse Meat or Beef?

Which is best?

It’s a hot topic in the news recently and with each day more and more products are being found to contain horse meat in place of beef. This has worried many people, and with good cause! Anyone who is conscious of their nutrition wants to know if beef or horse is better for them. Well today we hope to find out. Should we be worried about eating horse? Well, potentially it could contain a chemical called ‘bute’ which is dangerous to humans, and we await news on this, but the chances are very much limited. If we take the horse meat as ‘bute’ free, we can begin to analyse its worth, and find out if it’s better or worse than beef…

Protein Content

We eat meat for its protein content, particularly if you’re aiming for muscle growth. 100g of horse meat contains 21.4g of protein, compared to beefs 21g so there is basically no difference at all. Horse and beef have both got excellent levels of leucine, making them good choices for body building, as leucine increases protein synthesis. Horse contains slightly more histidine, which is good for calcium absorbtion, but not significantly high amounts, and beef holds it’s own.

Verdict: Draw – Both have excellent protein levels

Fat Content

Fat is essential for cell formation, insulation and vitamin movement. Unsaturated fat is good as it doesn’t clog arteries, and saturated fat does, but is needed for the formation of testosterone. Beef contains 5.2g of fat per 100g, and 1.9g of that is saturated. This compares to horse meat, containing 4.6g of fat, of which 1.4g is saturated fat. Added to this, horse meat contains a lot more omega 3 fatty acids, a brain boosting fatty acid, compared with beef. So horse meat helps make you smarter!

Verdict: Horse Win – the lower levels of fat and extra omega 3 acids mean horse meat takes the win in fat content.

Carbohydrates

You won’t find any carbohydrates in either of these, so it’s a draw here.

Verdict: Draw

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is essential in the body, and 75% of the average person’s cholesterol is made by the liver. This is in the form of HDL’s. This is ‘good’ cholesterol, which reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol, or LDL’s. Beef contains 59mg per 100g, or 20% of your RDA compared with 52mg, or 17% in horse meat.

Verdict: Horse Win – Lower cholesterol means that horse meat takes a second win.

Vitamins

Meat products are full of vitamins, and this is the case here. Meats are limitedin vitamins A, C, D, E and K, but are high in B vitamins. Here beef comes up trumps, having more B vitamins than horse, substantially in some cases. Beef has more niacin, riboflavin, B6 and B12, making it excellent for energy metabolism. Horse has very good values, but can’t keep up with the beef.

Verdict: Beef Win – Beef and horse have very good levels of vitamins, but beef values are particularly high.

Minerals

Minerals perform a range of functions within the body and meats tend to contain good amounts of a number of different minerals. Beef is great for iron, phosphorus, potassium zinc and selenium. Iron helps make blood, phosphorus aids energy regulation, potassium regulates electrolyte levels, zinc supports immune function and protein synthesis and selenium is an antioxidant. This means beef is packed with good stuff, and great for a number of functions. Horse meat contains more iron than beef, but less of those other minerals, particularly zinc and selenium.

Verdict: Beef Win – Although horse meat has many minerals, beef has higher levels, making it a more comprehensive meat.

Final Scores

It's a draw!

Horse 2 Beef 2

It’s a draw, as horse has better fat and cholesterol, but beef has much better vitamin and mineral content. For those looking for high quality protein, both are a good choice. Horse has better fat content and omega 3 levels. Beef scores well on zinc and selenium levels which excellent B vitamin levels. This means that you can enjoy beef or horse meat which equal benefits for your diet.

For more meat choices, see our blog on the best meat for muscle.

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Happy Eating!