The New Complete Book of Food

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r Variety Meats

(Brain, heart, sweetbreads, tripe, kidney, tongue)

See also Beef, Liver, Pork, Veal.

Nutritional Profile

Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate

Protein: High

Fat: Moderate (muscle meats)

High (organ meats)

Saturated fat: High

Cholesterol: High

Carbohydrates: None

Fiber: None

Sodium: Low to high

Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A (kidneys), B vitamins

Major mineral contribution: Iron, copper

About the Nutrients in This Food

Heart, tongue, and tripe (the muscular lining of the cow’s stomach) are

muscle meats. Brains, kidneys, and sweetbreads (the thymus gland) are

organ meats. Like other foods of animal origin, both kinds of meats are

rich sources of proteins considered “complete” because they have sufficient

amounts of all the essential amino acids.

Organ meats have more fat than muscle meats. Their fat composi-

tion varies according to the animal from which they come. Ounce for

ounce, beef fat has proportionally more saturated fatty acids than pork

fat, slightly less cholesterol than chicken fat, and appreciably less than

lamb fat.

Like fish, poultry, milk, and eggs, and other meat, variety meats are

an excellent source of high-quality protein, with sufficient amounts of

all the essential amino acids. They are an excellent source of B vitamins,

including vitamin B 12 , a nutrient found only in animal foods. Kidneys are

high in natural vitamin A (retinol), the form of vitamin A also found in

liver. All variety meats are high in heme iron, the form of iron most easily

absorbed by your body.