--- title: Is Eating Bugs Healthier Than Eating Meat? description: Find out which insects are healthier than meat canonical: https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-14T18:15:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:05:20.542Z article:section: Health og:title: Should You Be Eating Bugs Instead of Meat? og:description: Find out which insects are healthier than meat og:url: https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Should You Be Eating Bugs Instead of Meat? twitter:description: Find out which insects are healthier than meat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Should You Be Eating Bugs Instead of Meat? by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/) and [Lon Tweeten](https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/) Apr 14, 2016 6:15 PM UTC by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/) and [Lon Tweeten](https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/) Apr 14, 2016 6:15 PM UTC A global [protein shortage](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/15/fight-world-hunger-by-eating-bugs-urges-u-n/) is prophesied for the coming decades, but bugs are flying in to the rescue. Insects can be raised using way less water and energy than traditional livestock, and they emit a fraction of the greenhouse gases (though they [may not be as eco-friendly](http://time.com/3824917/crickets-sustainable-protein/) as is often repeated). Insects are also a [promising source of protein](http://time.com/3824917/crickets-sustainable-protein/). But are they healthier than beef, pork and chicken? A team of researchers wanted to find out, so they conducted the first nutritional comparison of meats: the kind you squash in the bathroom, and the kind you eat in a burger. They graded mealworms, crickets, honeybee larvae, palm weevils, silkworms and caterpillars against chicken, beef and pork. “Most of the meat that we eat is fairly similar in terms of nutritional composition,” says Charlotte Payne, research associate at the University of Oxford and co-author of the [study](http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v70/n3/pdf/ejcn2015149a.pdf) published in the _European Journal of Clinical Nutrition_. “But the insects that people eat are incredibly different.” Think you can tell which insects are healthier than meat? Test your knowledge with the quiz below, based on the findings of the study. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/"},"headline":"Should You Be Eating Bugs Instead of Meat?","datePublished":"2016-04-14T18:15:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:05:20.542Z","description":"Crickets have as much protein as pork—if you eat enough of them","url":"https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","diet","Nutrition","meat","bugs","Insects","protein"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lon Tweeten","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4292792/edible-bugs-protein/","name":"Should You Be Eating Bugs Instead of Meat?"}}]}] ```