Why Is Jerky Not A Quality Source Of Protein?

[Cody Hahn]

I am asking this specifically in response to Joshua Naterman's comment about jerky not being a good, quality source of protein. Anyone else is free to comment.

 

Is jerky not a good source of protein becuase 1. the protein is altered or degraded through the drying process, 2. because it is dry and takes longer for the body to process, 3. or because of some other reason I am not aware of?

[Larry Roseman]

http://blog.fooducate.com/2009/07/13/13-interesting-facts-about-beef-jerky/

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

From the above link:

 

 

11. Beef Jerky is astronaut food! NASA has been providing Space shuttle crews this lightweight high protein treat since the mid nineties.

[Joshua Naterman]

Dry heat causes cross-linking of amino acids, creating shapes that do not fit into our enzymes.

 

In other words, the dry heat causes the protein to become less digestible. It's not trash, but compared to meat that is not heat-dried there is less usable protein in jerky.

 

There's nothing wrong with jerky as a snack, especially if it is home-made from good meat, but you can't expect 30g of protein from jerky to give you the same effect as 30g of protein from rare steak, simply because you won't absorb as much of the protein from the jerky.

[Daniel Burnham]

Dry heat causes cross-linking of amino acids, creating shapes that do not fit into our enzymes.

 

In other words, the dry heat causes the protein to become less digestible. It's not trash, but compared to meat that is not heat-dried there is less usable protein in jerky.

 

There's nothing wrong with jerky as a snack, especially if it is home-made from good meat, but you can't expect 30g of protein from jerky to give you the same effect as 30g of protein from rare steak, simply because you won't absorb as much of the protein from the jerky.

I have a dehydrator that has very low heat.  Would it have the same effect?  I like to make beef jerky and find that I end up eating about twice the amount that I would have eaten had it been hydrated.  So maybe it evens out.

[Cody Hahn]

Thanks Joshua, that clears things up. So the very process that enables preservation causes it to be less useful. Better than nothing I guess.

[Larry Roseman]

I wasn't aware of that either. Interesting.

 

It seems that up to 40% of lysine may be effected, and about 20% of other amino acids.

Beef protein is about 9% lysine, so reducing it 40% would produce about 5% - which still is complete protein level.

Perhaps 30g would be worth around 20-24g ?  There are some other considerations such as whether the product was extruded or includes starch like Slim Jim presumably, which reduces cross linking so it's hard to be precise. 

[Joshua Naterman]

I have a dehydrator that has very low heat.  Would it have the same effect?  I like to make beef jerky and find that I end up eating about twice the amount that I would have eaten had it been hydrated.  So maybe it evens out.

I have wondered this as well, and I do not know the answer! I think that if the jerky is still a bit moist, you are probably fine.

 

The drier it gets, the more likely there is to be some degradation, but it's still not going to be garbage, you know?

 

If any one finds some research on this, I'd love to see it.