Everyone has a Thanksgiving, or even Kentucky Fried, favorite. Some of us will only eat breast meat. Others vie for the very limited supply of drumsticks. But what is it that makes white and dark meat so different?
Slow and Fast Twitch Muscle
Muscle contains both slow twitch fibers and fast twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch fibers contract and fatigue more slowly than fast twitch fibers. Most of us have total muscle mass that is about 50% slow twitch fibers and 50% fast twitch fibers. However long-distance runners often have more slow twitch fibers, while sprinters or bodybuilders, who train for short bursts of energy, often have more fast twitch fibers.
Meat and Muscle Fibers
When we eat meat, it is the muscle of the animal that we are consuming. The white meat of fowl is fast twitch muscle and the dark meat slow twitch muscle. Dark meat is dark in color because it contains an oxygen storing protein called myoglobin. Oxygen is required to transform food energy into energy that cell of the body can use to do work. This ability to store oxygen is what makes slow twitch muscle geared towards endurance.
Breasts to Drumsticks
Based on the role of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle, one can predict where each type of muscle fiber will be found on your Thanksgiving turkey. Slow twitch muscles tend to be wing and leg muscles where long term endurance is required. Fast twitch muscles more common in the breast where quick response but not necessarily endurance is needed.
The fowl that most of us eat are selectively bred in captivity to possess large amounts of white meat (fast twitch muscle). Wild fowl, which spend much of their time on the move, tend to have more slow twitch muscle (dark meat) than their domestic counterparts.
Dark & White Meat Nutritional Comparison
Dark meat, with more fat and calories, has traditionally gotten a bad nutritional rap. The differences in calories and fat are actually quite small:
- 3 oz turkey white meat, 133 calories, 2.7 grams of fat
- 3 oz turkey dark meat, 159 calories, 6.1 grams of fat
Some of the fats contained in dark meat are actually healthy omega fatty acids. The amount of bad, saturated fat in fowl meat can be reduced by removing the skin.
Dark meat also has nutritional benefits, with loads of iron, as well as folate, pantothenic acid, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamins A, K, B6 and B12, and minerals such as selenium, phosphorus and zinc. So although dark meat has more calories and fat, it also packs more nutrition that its pale counterpart.
For some great Thanksgiving turkey recipes, see:
