If you're looking for a new source of protein in your diet, we've got good news for you — as long as you don't mind eating bugs.
A study found eating crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms and buffalo worms provides some of the same nutrients as eating sirloin — at least in terms of what your body is absorbing.
SEE MORE: This Tiny Bug Can Make People Allergic To Red Meat
The researchers focused on iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc and a few other minerals necessary for humans.
This is great news for the environment and even the economy. Farming insects is cheaper and more sustainable than raising cattle.
The animal agriculture industry, particularly meat and dairy, is one of the biggest contributors to environmental problems like climate change and ozone depletion, and it has a lot to do with methane. Despite methane making up only a fraction of greenhouse gases, the chemical compound's potency means it has a stronger "warming effect." And cows are really good at producing methane.
In parts of Asia, South and Central America and Africa, eating beady-eyed creatures is already pretty standard. The United Nations started encouraging more consumption of insects years ago.
But there's a slight problem with adding insects to our diets. In much of the Western world, creepy crawlers aren't exactly a delicacy.
