By Lachie
6-min read.
If you're a lover of beef jerky, you may have wondered if this tasty, high-protein snack is actually good for you. As it stands, the answer is a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no. In this post, we'll take a closer look at the nutritional value of beef jerky and discuss its potential effects on your health.
What is jerky?
At the most basic level, jerky is meat that’s been exposed to hot air for a long period of time until it’s all dried out. The process of dehydration removes most of the moisture from the meat, turning the meat into a portable, nutritionally-dense snack. Beautiful.
However, there’s a lot of conventional, mass-produced jerky that strays away from this perfect process…
Not all beef jerky is made equal
A lot of the jerky you find hanging from the shelves at service stations and supermarkets is sadly, not this simple. Not only do big name brands often mince their meat before drying it, resulting in a soft, mushy consistency, but they’re also known to adulterate their product by dumping sugar, soy protein and artificial preservatives in with their jerky (gross). Luckily, this isn’t your only option.
There’s still a lot of good jerky out there, and our Gymrat Jerky is one of them.
We slice meat against the grain, resulting in a nice hearty chew to stimulate the jaw muscles, and coat it only in classic, established herbs and spices. By using clean ingredients only, we eliminate the risk of exposing our customers to complex industrial additives with unknown long-term effects.
When our meat is dried out, you know that all that’s left is the nutritional goodness of beef.
Let’s talk about beef
Meat has gotten a bad wrap lately, and we’re here to squash that beef.
Despite insistence to the contrary nowadays, beef contains an amount of protein, vitamins and minerals that it's hard to find in any plant food, leading some to call it a superfood!
First, let’s dive into the nutritional content of our Gymrat Jerky. It's probably the best example we could use, since it's basically all beef and nothing else.
For every 100 grams, you’re looking at about 332 calories, 56.4 grams of protein, 10.1 grams of fat, and only 2.4g of carbohydrates. It’s also fairly choked with essential vitamins and minerals like iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
Think back to that process of dehydration: when you dry out beef, you take out all the water and leave behind only the good stuff. 200g of beef becomes 80g of jerky. It’s kind of like a more efficient steak.
The main winner for beef jerky is it’s high protein content. We all know you need adequate protein to build muscle, but there’s more to it than that.
Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build and repair tissues in the body, and it's also important for maintaining a healthy weight. Consuming adequate amounts of protein can help you feel fuller for longer, which can help you avoid overeating and maintain a healthy weight.
Coupled with incredibly low carbohydrates, which are notoriously easy to overeat, this makes beef jerky an excellent snack for managing your hunger and thus controlling your weight.
But it doesn’t end there: beef jerky also contains various other nutrients that are important for maintaining good health. For example, beef is a great source of iron, which is essential for carrying oxygen throughout the body. It's also a good source of zinc, which is important for supporting the immune system and maintaining healthy skin. Jamming all this into some beef jerky gives you a healthy snack you can fuel up with from anywhere.
What about sodium?
Beef jerky is known for having a high salt content, which scares some people. However, we think the reasoning for this is a little outdated.
Because we choose not to use any artificial preservatives, Gymrat Jerky marinades in a pretty generous amount of salt to keep it shelf-stable for longer. This gives it a sodium content of 1960mg per 100 grams.
Contrary to popular belief, newer evidence suggests that not only will salt not kill you, but it might actually make you live longer: this 2021 research paper found a positive relationship between sodium intake and life expectancy.
And when it comes to athletic performance:
“salt regulates your body temperature; reduces heart rate resulting in an ability to perform longer, faster, more intensely; increases blood volume and circulation better than any other substance; and regulates muscle contraction and nerve function.” Scott Hayes, eliteFTS
(For a full write-up, I’d highly recommend ‘The Benefits of Sodium’, as well as anything from the world’s strongest bodybuilder, Stan Efferding, who’s a big fan of salt)
Conclusion
Rest easy beef jerky lovers: as long as you’re making the right product choices, beef jerky can be an excellent snack for giving you protein to fuel your muscles, nutrients to support your health, and sodium to jack up your performance.
And the choices don't get more right than our Gymrat Jerky: it's just about as lean, clean and high-in-protein as you can get in a snack.
Happy snacking!
Please note that the information provided on this platform is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or medical condition.