# What type of meat are we?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827 "2003-01-10T22:02:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/21 "2003-01-11T06:53:32Z")
I was trying to get you a link to the manbeef dot com site, but it doesn’t seem to work anymore. Maybe they’re fresh out. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/22 "2003-01-11T15:01:15Z")
“Pass me another hunk of co-pilot.” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/23 "2003-01-11T15:47:19Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Skelji \* \ My head, however, is pure fat. \ [QUOTE] _Wheezing!_ I do hope that if anybody ever does eat me, that they find my meat very dark indeed. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/24 "2003-01-11T18:48:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*“Pass me another hunk of co-pilot.” \*\* LOL!! I’d figure your legs would be mostly dark meat (think walking for hours on hours) while your arms are more the white meat type (punching etc). I wonder what’s the worst tasting part(s)? Not including the obvious. Wasn’t there a news article of some guy who had a bite of his mother’s heart? Yum! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/25 "2003-01-12T07:23:19Z")
Of course, Heinlein gives his take on this in _Farnham’s Freehold._ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/26 "2003-01-12T11:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sunstone \* > \*\* > Humans have both types (fast and slow twitch cells, or white and dark meat) mixed in their muscles. The proportion of each type seems to be fixed genetically. So theoretically, a sprinter who had a slightly higher proportion of (fast) white cells would have some advantage over a person who had a slightly higher proportion of (slow) dark cells…but that person would theoretically have an advantage in a marathon, everthing else being equal. > > The proportion of fast and slow twitch muscle cells can be determined by taking a biopsy of the leg muscle, if you are interested. \*\* I’m interested about the genetic part. I just took a course in animal development, and one of the things I learned was that it was possible to change muscle fiber types (at least for mammals not humans). Not easily done, and required training and change of habits, but it was possible to go from mostly a Type 1 (red meat) to Type 2 (white meat) and viceversa. In fact, some of the questions were related to what type of muscle fibers would a sedentary cattle have vs. active cattle that do repetitive work. Answer: The less sedentary cattle would have more Type 2 muscle fibers than Type 1, the active cattle would have more Type 1 fibers than Type 2. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/27 "2003-01-12T11:04:16Z")
I’ve been told by more than a few women that I’m very tasty . You just can’t beat my meat! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/28 "2003-01-12T11:08:28Z")
Forgot to add: Yes, I know that genetically we are born with a certain ratio of muscle fiber types, what I was pointing out was that at least the body was able (through training) to change the ratio of muscle fiber types. ---
**Author:** ![rampisad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@rampisad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rampisad)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827/29 "2003-01-12T16:18:39Z")
An interesting(?) sidelight. If you ask a rabbi for as Kashrut ruling, he’ll tell you we aren’t meat at all - we’re **parve** - neither meaty nor milky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-meat-are-we/147827.md?page=1)