*Since the Donner party is too terrible to think about, let’s imagine that Polar Bears, one of the few animals to consider humans as prey, are both worried about their fat intake and willing to eat beef. *
So, if he had his choice between some beef and human flesh(from a person who was within 10% of their ideal weight, let’s say,) which would probably be more fattening per serving? Cattle maybe be fed growth hormones, but since people eat beef…
I would say that the polar bear would not have any dietary problems with either meal - nor a lifetime diet of either.
I would say that that slice of bread is more fattining then that slab of steak. I am looking at this from a low carb viewpoint and have learned that eating fat doesn’t make you fat.
I would aslo guess that a ‘normal’ weight human or cow would not have any more fat then that seal he had last night.
Sorry, there’s no easy answer to this.
Cattle put on fat in much the same ways that humans do, and various breeds have been developed to produce fat in different areas, so there is no ‘typical’ steer. Fat cattle for export to Asian markets ideally have ‘marbled’ beef, that is the fat is distributed throughout the muscle blocks, and fat contents up to 30% aren’t unheard of. Lean beef can have as little as 1%. The fat content also varies with age, diet, gender and any number of other factors. Basically if we’re talking about eating whole animals (excluding entrails) the fat content ranges typically between 5 and 30%.
I have no idea what the fat content for typical cuts of human flesh are. For whole human ‘carcasses’ the figure is usually given at a token 20% (this includes entrails). This also varies, and figures of up to 30% for females and as low as 5% for males have been quoted as within ‘ideal’ range whatever that means. So your human female within 10% of this range could be as high as 33% fat, while a male could be as low as 4%: almost exactly the same as beef.
So feel free to go on a cannabilistic diet, but just remember that while human fat is largely diet dependant and may contain any amount of staurated fat, cattle fat is diet independant and always around 50% saturated. Not good for the arteries, so a health conscious polar bear should stick to vegetarian humans.
Keep in mind that polar bears basically eat fat. They kill and skin seals, and strip them of their fat layer, and generally discard the rest of the carcass. Fat is the most efficient food known to man or bear. Gram for gram, it has many more calories than either carbohydrates or protein, and makes for great insulation, too.
So the polar bear would be better off eating the creature with a higher percentage of body fat. I’m not sure if the average man or cow has a higher percentage.
Hope that helps.